Disclaimer: Do not own Phantom of the Opera. Don't own the Persian's name either, that belongs to Clever Lass (sorry, didn't get a chance to ask. I'll change it if you don't like me using it)

As always, draegon fire, thank you for your editing skills, they make this much easier. and of course for being a fellow phan whom i can bounce ideas off of.

sardine nightclub: well, it did...just without the desired effect...

MouetteHeartsErik: first, can I call you Mouette? It's soo much faster and easier to type...second, I LOVE HIS HAIR TOO! I mean, it's just part of the sexy Gerik phantom image, no? and it does make him look soo much more messed up. In "I remember" (the movie) he really still looked hot with his mask off, even when you saw his reflection in the mirror...

intoxicated by Erik's music: oh, thank you, that's lovely of you to say (I was going to say loverly but that sounds a bit wrong don't ya think?) really its just midnight musings thrown together...well, that chapter wasn't, but all the others were...i think that one came after a stressed out sojourn to the pool...

The Marksman

Erik finally snapped out of his kissing-induced stupor enough to know that the Vicomte was threatening him yet again and Christine was standing in the way, professing her love for him in front of Raoul. "Christine--" he asked wonderingly, "you love me?"

Glancing up at him momentarily, she said with a small smile gracing her lips, "Yes, Erik, I do. So…." she turned her attention back to the foppish boy, intent on making him understand her. "Do you choose a temporary life with the shell of the woman you love, or will you let us go in peace together, and find yourself a new bride?"

Raoul was still being particularly dense, probably as a side effect of being plunged into an icy tank of water, and refused to believe what he was hearing. She can't possibly love the possessor of that gruesome face. Surely I can make her see reason. And so Raoul tried to reach her in a way he was certain Christine would understand--through song.

"Christine, Christine

Don't think that I don't care,

But all our hopes and all our dreams

Rest on you now.

Can you deny us the future in store?

Love me, dear Lotte--"

"NO MORE!" Raoul, I've said it every way I possibly could and you still don't understand! Little Lotte loved you, but she is gone now! You're in love with the memory of what once was. If you had excepted this sooner and gotten over it, maybe we could still see each other, spend time together---" Christine trailed off. Don't think about the way things might have been, she chided herself. "But now I seriously doubt we could even exchange passing greetings without you badgering me about loving you. I don't want a stalker, Raoul."

As Christine spoke, Erik wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her possessively against him. "Do you hear her, Vicomte? She does not want you or your wealth of your good looks. How does it feel to be denied for once, boy?" he spat out mockingly.

"Erik, please don't do this. Taunting Raoul will not resolve these issues any sooner; it can only make things worse. I love you, Angel, and you need not worry about losing me to him." Christine turned her face upward and kissed Erik softly on his lips. "You never did lose me. Even on the rooftop that night, I was still truly yours." She gently caressed his scars.

"Then you lied to me Christine?" Raoul asked in disbelief. "You lied to me, told me you loved me, begged me to be your guide and protector, all the while never meaning a word of it?" The meaning of what she had said hit him at last, and the revelation sent his mind spiraling downward into madness. "How could you Christine? What possessed you to deceive me about something like that?" He saw Christine begin to speak and silenced her. "I know, I know, your precious Angel of Music, the Opera Ghost, who else could it be but him? When you said it, I should have known then. 'The Phantom of the Opera is there inside my mind.'"

"Don't you blame Erik," Christine hissed acidly. "He never had that kind of control over me." Her voice rising in anger, she continued. "Yes, he was always inside my mind, but only because I couldn't stop thinking about him! Thoughts of his voice singing to me, his arms holding me, his music….The feelings these elicited consumed my thoughts, I couldn't think of anything else but him! And why do you think I begged for protection that night? Certainly not for the simple reason that the stage hand had just been dropped from the catwalks, hanging dead by his neck from a rope! Certainly that would not have traumatized me sufficiently to cause me to ask abnormal requests from anyone! As Christine ended her tirade, roughly 100 decibels higher than when she started, her breath was ragged and her hands grasped Erik's tightly.

"Hush, mon ange, be still," Erik whispered in her ear, freeing his hand from her grip and running it up her arm to her hair, combing his long fingers through the lush chocolate curls. "Be still." His voice was so soft, so caring, yet still authoritative, as he turned her face lovingly towards him.

"But Erik---"

"No Christine." He silenced her words with a finger placed lightly on her lips. "Just be still and know that I love you, and nothing can change that." With that he gently moved her aside and stepped just past her, so that nothing but water remained between him and Raoul.

XXXXX

Raoul, when faced with a distraught and ranting Christine, had walked backward progressively as she raised her voice, so that now upwards of twenty feet separated him when there had only been inches before. But when he saw the Phantom touch her in such a tender, loving manner; when he saw the way Christine responded, trembling at his touch and turning toward him so willingly, as though she enjoyed looking on that deathly visage; and gazing at the monster with such devotion in her eyes, Raoul was filled with rage. The sweet love he had once had for Christine morphed into something darker, a possessive insanity that controlled his entire being, and he no longer regarded her thoughts or feelings as of any consequence. All he cared about was to having her as his, and to injure the monster as painfully as possible in the process, both physically and emotionally. If that's even possible. Can one have feelings without a heart or soul? And so, in his madness, while the Phantom was distracted with calming Christine, Raoul adjusted his grip on the sword and charged the seven yards toward Erik, intent on making him a ghost.

XXXXX

Kahveh Tallis, otherwise known as the Persian, had been surveying the scene before him for quite some time now without drawing attention to himself. He preferred it that way. Having entered the lair secretly while Erik was off working mischief on the managers and others above the cellars, Kahveh was anything but certain of a warm welcome, being that he was uninvited, combined with the fact that he let himself in.

It was a fascinating drama to watch, really. A young, beautiful girl being fought over by two rivals; one a fop, the other a Phantom. Considering the girl's beauty and charm, she hardly seemed a match for either of the men. She was far too sweet for the fop, and beautiful beyond the hopes of the Phantom. But her lovely disposure creates the perfect counterpart to Erik's vile temper, he thought. Perhaps not so ridiculous a match, after all. The girl certainly did seem devoted to him, weeping as Erik tried to hang himself, kissing him passionately when she finally removed the device of death, and now ranting at the foppish boy for threatening to kill Erik again.

Breaking out of his reverie, Kahveh continued to watch the show. Now Erik spoke comfortingly to the girl; the Persian supposed her to be Christine, Erik never talked of any other young girl; and Christine responded, submitting when he pushed her slight form aside, quieting when he told her to hush. Then Kahveh attention was drawn across the room as he heard an unexplained swishing of water. The Vicomte had raised his sword and was now swiftly striding toward the distracted couple.

Kahveh rose. This is no time to simply sit back and watch, he thought, drawing out his pistol.

XXXXX

As Erik tried to step forward, Christine held him back, turning him to her. "Erik, don't fight him, he'll kill you, I know. Then he'll marry me--he won't let me go! What I once used to dream…..I now dread….if he takes me it won't ever end! He'll always be there, by my side in my bed….Erik that would be a living hell I couldn't endure. Don't fight him, my angel, I love you too much."

"Christine, my love, he is nothing but a man. But while he lives, he will haunt us till we're---" But Erik never finished his sentence, for Christine's scream of horror stopped him. Turning around, he saw Raoul only feet away, sword held ready to run him through. A shot rang out, stopping all thought, and Erik gasped as a terrible pain sliced his chest, falling away from Christine, his body's impact on the water disguising the other splash that sounded only inches away.

XXXXX

"Oh, by the gods, no!" whispered a horrified Kahveh, seeing the two limp bodies fall into the water. "No…."

I am expecting Punjab threats, dear reviewers, don't disappoint me or (you know the rest, all together now) or a disaster beyond your imagination will occur---no updates for a week! I seriously doubt i could carry that out, i'm as much on the edge of my seat as you are (well, for some of you I might just be sitting back lazily on a couch...but you get the point) ok, shutting up now, just please Review!

Oh yeah, and the Persian's name? got that off of Clever Lass if you didn't read the disclaimer, Nadir's too...generic, I guess, and with a different name comes a different character. but as i said, shutting up.