Disclaimer: Please don't sue. I don't own POTO... All I own is an overactive imagination.

Summary: ErikRaoul slash fic.

Warning(s): homosexual content, slash!

Pairing(s): ErikRaoul

A/N: The time is really weird in this chapter. Since everything is technically almost happening at the same time but I want to separate the stories a bit, everything's a bit weird. Yeah, that's the only way I can describe it. For instance, we'll follow one character until lunchtime and then jump to another character but it starts in the morning. So it's like that. Don't be too confused please.

I have to tell you something but I'm not sure you wanna hear it. You'll be really pissed at me. I'll tell you at the end of this chapter.

o.o.o.o

Pass Time: Fated Paths – The Big Day o-

o.o.o.o

By: Lucifer Rosemaunt

o.o.o.o

Last Time: Well, basically Raoul finds out about the organ and figures he may as well stop lying to himself and admit that he loves the Phantom (though he still believes that the Phantom loves Christine). Christine has enlisted the help of a young man, Robert (OC), because she's very paranoid about Raoul. Erik really wants to hurt Christine because he's heard of the lies she's telling Meg about Raoul. And basically up to now (a week or so later), I've given them time to rest so that some real action can occur.

o.o.o.o

-.-

Raoul stretched languidly on his bed. It was early in the morning and today was going to be an eventful day. He was feeling better overall though his leg still ached. However, today he had decided he would do everything he could possibly do, though little it would be, while still remaining hidden in the opera house. Two main things came to mind with this decision: playing the violin and wandering said opera house (when night fell of course). Coincidentally enough (not really), today was also the day that all of his servants, notably Henri, would be going back to the estate to go over the layout of the new household they were building. The others would stay to oversee and help the best they could while Henri would stop by to bring him lunch.

So, until then, he was a free man. Raoul looked around the room and the closed door. Well, as free as a man stuck in a room could be. Raoul grinned to himself. The past week had been utterly boring. The tension he'd had expecting the Phantom to sneak into his room at night or even broad daylight (though Raoul was forgetting what the sun looked like) had left him when no one arrived after the first two days. Raoul had come to the conclusion that maybe they had been successful at keeping his presence a secret. He doubted that fact because the Phantom always knew what was occurring in his opera house. Though the alternative would be to believe that Christine had somehow kept Erik so busy that he didn't care. Unbidden thoughts of a certain nightmare always came to mind when he considered this possibility so he did his best to steer his thoughts away such atrocities.

A slight knock on the door alerted the Vicomte before Henri entered the room.

"What are you doing awake so early, Vicomte?" Henri asked a little wary of the grin on Raoul's face.

Raoul tried to look as innocent as he could, and though he had perfected the look as a child, it had never worked on his butler. Henri pinned the blonde with a stern look. Raoul shrugged, "I knew that you were going to check on the house again and I wanted to know how it was going. I was going to go back to sleep right afterwards."

Raoul secretly hoped that the excuse was good enough.

Henri set down a tray of food on the bedside table. He replied, "Building is starting today. Tearing down the old house and clearing away the rubble took longer than they expected for a house that was almost burned to ashes. We've asked them to try to build as quickly as possible so that we can go home. They've decided to have two shifts of workers, one by day and one by night."

Raoul raised his hand to stop him, "Isn't that a bit dangerous though? I want to move out but not at the expense of lives."

"It's only for the foundation. It isn't as dangerous as you'd think. They'll stop when it does become too dangerous."

Raoul nodded uncertainly.

Henri checked Raoul's forehead though the blonde shied away.

"I haven't had a fever for four days," he whined, looking like a petulant child.

"I'm making certain it does not return," Henri turned to leave, but pausing by the doorway turned around and said, "I expect to find you in the same position when I return."

"Yes, I will stay in this stuffy room breathing the same air I have for the past week, Henri. Nothing to do, no one to talk to. I do not know how I will survive until your return," Raoul grinned broadly.

"Eat your breakfast." Already used to the Vicomte's antics, Henri replied simply before leaving.

Upon the door closing, Raoul had to contain himself from shouting for joy. It was true that Madame Giry had been kind enough to bring him material to read, as did the others, but one can only read for so long. The Opera Populaire had a couple of showings that Raoul had listened to intently, but that was only a few times and only during the evening.

Raoul looked around the room a bit antsy. He knew he needed to wait until the rest of the opera house woke up before being able to play his violin, but his hands ached to play again. Of course, they had ached for entirely different reasons after the accident and even now, he wasn't certain if he could play without hurting himself, but he was more than willing to try.

He stared at the ceiling and let his mind wander. It was becoming his favorite pastime, just letting his thoughts go where they wanted. They always wanted to go back to the Phantom, no to Erik. He had scrutinized every moment he had ever spent with the man. Both the good and the bad. It was so bad that he even had favorites amongst his memories. The best had to be the night they slept together in his bed. Of course that room was now completely gone and the memory felt as though it was fading with it. Raoul vaguely wondered if memories faded with too much use. He thought they would become more vivid.

The sounds of the orchestra members tuning made its way through the opera house to his room and Raoul smiled. Music had always made him feel more alive. He reached over the side of the bed, wincing slightly when he jarred his leg. Picking up the case, he opened it reverently and took out the bow and violin. He sat up straighter and prepared himself to play with the orchestra. He'd listened to the music so much he was certain that he would be able to play along without problem. He had imagined doing so for days.

Finished tuning, Raoul set the violin against his shoulder and closed his eyes imagining the conductor asking for silence. He could picture the baton and he waited to see what they would practice first. After the first few bars, Raoul immediately joined in. Eyes still closed, he let himself get lost in the music, always waiting for a simple prompt from the conductor he could only see in his mind.

o.o.o.o

Erik had awoken in a panic, though, truth be told, he had woken in a panic every morning for the past week. He always woke disoriented in Madame Giry's room. Erik did not appreciate having to stay away from the safety of his own home. He was however thankful that for some reason Madame Giry had been up earlier in the past mornings so that she didn't realize he'd woken in such a state. The insufferable woman had forced him to stay in the room on the belief that if he hurt himself further no one would be able to take notice and care for him.

To make matters worse, she had managed to find the only weakness he had and she exploited it to have her way. Somehow, Madame Giry had concluded that Raoul was important to him. Although she was correct, Erik did not appreciate her using it against him but he had yet to admit it to her. So, he saved the man from a burning building. That should not have given her any indication that he loved him.

Love him he did though. His thoughts were consumed with the blonde. It did not help when Madame Giry would bring him up whenever Erik threatened to go back to his home under the opera house. She'd been giving him updates on the Vicomte's well-being. He wasn't certain if she was lying to him, but she had made it explicitly clear that if he tried to leave before she deemed him well, he would be receiving absolutely no updates on him. Erik did have to admit anything was better than nothing was.

He was glad that Raoul was okay, but he made a mental note to do something to Madame Giry. Though what? He wasn't certain. He had to admit to himself that he hadn't actually wanted to move at all because it hurt to simply breathe, but he had to protest to keep his dignity.

Erik had been extremely bored. Madame Giry had been kind enough to bring him a sketchpad to do something, but he filled it with images of the Vicomte and therefore had to burn it before Madame Giry discovered it and confirmed her suspicions about Raoul.

Raoul. What was he going to do about Raoul? He knew that the Vicomte had to be in Paris still because Madame Giry had given him updates everyday. With whom was he residing though? Everyone thought he was out of town. Unless the Vicomte wanted to reveal that he had been lying, Raoul's options would be limited. How would he find the blonde? Christine had to ruin his plans. At least when Raoul was on his estate, Erik knew exactly where to go to look for him, but no, Christine had to ruin everything, again.

Then there was that letter. After having to burn the sketchpad, he hadn't had anything to do. However, he remembered the letter, the one connection he still had to the Vicomte besides word from Madame Giry. He was surprised at what was written, but then again he had been surprised with the organ. It only made him want to find Raoul faster. His current disappearance made his life all that much harder, but in his opinion, Raoul was well worth the effort. This brought him full circle back to Christine. If Christine hadn't burned his house down, Erik would've already kidnapped Raoul.

He was partially glad for her though. She provided quite the entertainment when Erik was thinking of the many different ways he could hurt her. Death was too nice. Thoughts of hurting her had taken up much of his time actually. Not as much as thinking of what to do with Raoul, but it was enough to hold him through the day.

He had already taken part of his revenge. He had written to the managers shortly after being incarcerated in Madame Giry's room to hire a new singer. If they were as obedient as he hoped they would be, that new singer was already studying under Carlotta. The thought was enough to hold him over before he could do some personal damage to Christine.

Today the pain was not so bad. His wrist had only been badly bruised and had already healed. He had been deeply relieved when he heard he hadn't broken it. He would still be able to play the organ. Erik stood up and slowly walked across the room. He breathed deeply and winced. Twisting his body slowly to one side, he winced again. He noted those facts mentally: breathing deeply and twisting were indeed still painful; walking was okay though.

This new development made his day brighter. He would be able to walk around the opera house and check up on everyone. Madame Giry had told him that Andre and Firmin no longer made any mention of the Opera Ghost but were pushing everyone very hard hoping to please him. For that, Erik was glad; it was one less situation to deal with. Madame Giry had his first paycheck, and though the money was an added bonus, he had wanted to check on his organ for the longest time.

Unfortunately, the organ was behind the stage so the only time he could possibly go check on it would be at night. Whatever to do until then?

He heard the orchestra begin to play. Pausing, he felt that something was different. Someone had entered late into the song but was playing rather well. Erik wondered about this. How could a single violin stand out so strongly against all the other musicians?

The tone was clear and vibrant, almost haunting. Before he knew it, the set had finished and Erik belatedly realized he'd been standing in the middle of the room the whole time. He shook his head. The violinist had captured his attention, almost as raptly as the Vicomte had. He had to go and investigate. Sliding the mirror aside, he carefully made his way to the stage.

The going was slower than he would have liked, but he arrived at the stage area still well hidden. He looked toward the orchestra but was disappointed to see many of the people had been replaced. Of course, he realized that some of the people had not wanted to return to the Opera Populaire even though the Opera Ghost had been rumored to be dead. This new group of musicians was quite alright. Not completely to his standards, but maybe that violinist was as close to his standard as he'd ever heard. They had stopped playing though and he waited to see which violinist had caught his attention from across the opera house.

The musicians began another set. Again, the violinist started a couple bars late. Erik looked at the orchestra but realized that the violin was not coming from the orchestra pit. Instead, it was somewhere near the rooms. He spared a fleeting glare at Christine before making his way towards the sound. Hopefully he'd be able to find the violinist who was playing.

o.o.o.o

Christine cursed herself. She threw on some clothes and ran out of her room, nearly running into Robert.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Christine yelled. She hadn't slowed her pace. Robert was always one step behind her. It had seemed like a brilliant idea to have a bodyguard, but he was persistent and not as fun as she would have hoped. Raoul also hadn't made an appearance. Maybe he had died in the fire. She highly doubted that. Maybe he left. It was possible. She was still annoyed that her plan backfired on her. It was ultimately to her benefit though. She had yet to break her new punishment with the exception of mornings.

"I did," Robert replied. You could hear the annoyance on his voice. The past week had been like this. He had promised her that he would be her 'buddy' in the opera house, but sometimes he wondered what he had seen in the girl. At times, she was charming and she was pretty, but all the other times she was spoilt and self-centered. He wasn't quite sure who the real Christine was. "I've been waiting outside your room at your request so that you could get dressed. I didn't want to walk into your room while you were in a state of undress."

Christine ran toward the stage. She sighed when she saw Madame Giry already there. The prima donna could swear that Madame Giry woke up earlier just to spite her.

Through clenched teeth, Christine spoke, "Good morning, Madame Giry."

"You are late once again, Christine," Madame Giry answered. It was true that she had woken earlier in the mornings just to punish Christine that much more, but if Christine bothered to look around, many of the orchestra members were already there as well. Christine had never been an early riser to begin with.

Christine bowed her head. Yesterday she had had to help with the laundry and to her disappointment, her hands had become wrinkled by the end of it all. She had been thoroughly angered with Madame Giry's choice of punishment. Not only were her hands losing their smooth feel, she was losing quality beauty sleep. She hoped her punishment wouldn't be too harsh today.

Madame Giry looked Christine over. She highly doubted the girl had learned anything from her punishments. Not with the way she was fondling her own hands. She sighed to herself wondering what had happened to the young girl who had tried so hard to behave well. But Madame Giry was convinced letting her go without a punishment would be counterproductive, so she told Christine, "You will remain after everyone is through practicing to help clean up with the props and the set."

Christine nodded and dragged her feet towards the stage, Robert close behind.

o.o.o.o

Erik stopped walking. He leaned against the wall and tried not to take deep breaths even though he felt as though he was going to hyperventilate. The cold damp air of the tunnels was not helping. He was exhausted from moving from one side of the opera house to the other. It annoyed him, but what annoyed him more was that the violinist had stopped playing. The orchestra hadn't even finished but the violin had simply stopped.

It was strange though. The music was coming from the wing of the building that nobody used anymore because they were afraid of him. The only thing that Andre and Firmin sanctioned this wing for was storage. It was a waste of good space in Erik's opinion, but he knew he was mostly to blame for their general superstitious nature. He also blamed their idiocy on the matter.

Erik felt a strange sense of déjà vu. This was the path he had taken many times when he had been visiting Christine when she had just been given her starring role. He turned a corner and walked down a dark corridor before stopping at the point he knew to be where the mirror would be.

o.o.o.o

Raoul had lost himself in the music. He began the next piece with them when he finally thought to look at the time. Raoul cursed hurriedly reaching for the violin case. It was already well passed noon. Henri should have arrived with lunch hours ago. Raoul thanked God that his butler had been late. At least his luck was still intact. Raoul's fingers slipped on the case. There was some liquid on it. Raoul winced, looking down at his hands. It was blood. His fingertips were bleeding and blood had gotten on the strings as well as the violin case. Upon closer inspection, even his bow had blood on it. He looked to his right hand. His palm was bleeding; a scab from the burn had been stretched too far. He stared at his hands detachedly. It was hurting now, but earlier he hadn't even noticed. He wondered how he had lost himself in the music enough to not even notice he was bleeding. It was weird seeing his own blood. He felt as if it were a bad omen.

A noise outside startled Raoul enough to realize he should be more worried about being caught than some blood on his hands. He rubbed both violin and case clean with the bed sheets and placed the instrument on the floor. He pulled a blanket over both the dirtied sheets and his hands just as Henri was opening the door. He moved into a sleeping position facing away form the door. Raoul winced when his hands chaffed roughly as he pulled the blanket even further up on his shoulder.

If Henri thought he was awake, he would make him eat. If his butler made him eat, then his hands would definitely be seen. Raoul hoped dearly that Henri would not realize he had been awake. He steadied his breathing even though his heart was beating quickly.

"I'm sorry I'm late, but there were many things to be done at the estate," Henri looked around the room suspiciously. He looked toward the bed and saw Raoul's back. Whispering, Henri moved closer, "Vicomte? Raoul?"

Raoul shut his eyes tighter and focused on his breathing. He would not be caught so easily.

Henri sighed and commented to his supposed sleeping form, "That's what you get for waking up so early."

Raoul heard the tray be put down and some rustling of paper before the door opened and shut again.

Waiting for a couple more minutes, Raoul turned over to check if Henri had indeed left. The room was empty.

A sound by the mirror caught the Vicomte's attention, but when he looked, all Raoul saw was his own reflection and the empty room. He shrugged it off as his ears playing tricks on him. The Opera Populaire was known to make strange noises albeit the fact that most of the time those noises were usually because of a certain Phantom of the Opera. Raoul looked at the mirror again. He was suspicious but when he heard nothing, he figured it was simply his paranoia. He knew from his past with Christine that she had used that mirror to get to the Phantom. However, neither Christine nor the Phantom of the Opera had tried to contact him so far and for that, he was having mixed feelings. He was certainly glad he hadn't run into Christine. Though technically he couldn't run into anyone because of his leg, but at least she hadn't discovered his whereabouts. In regards to the Phantom, Erik, Raoul couldn't help but want to see him. When they were apart, it seemed stupid to remain apart, but whenever they were together, everything was just too painful. It didn't make sense and it drove Raoul mad with the mood swings he would have.

Raoul forced himself to stop the train of thought.

The tray had been set on the bedside table along with a note.

Raoul,

Left for the estate again. I do not think I will return until tomorrow morning. I asked Madame Giry to bring you your dinner.

Henri

So tonight would be the perfect night to try out Henri's gift. He would take the cane and find out if he really did send Erik an organ. Henri had mentioned that the organ was left behind the stage. Raoul had felt affronted at the news. He had sent a gift to the Phantom and said man was just leaving the gift to gather dust. It was an unreasonable feeling considering the fact he didn't quite remember sending the organ, but that was beside the point.

Looking at the food Raoul reached out to grab some fruit when he noticed his hands again. He cursed his luck when he realized that there weren't any bandages in the room, at least to his knowledge. Henri had disposed of the old bandages as soon as they were off, and unless he wanted to take the bandages off his leg, he had nothing to use. He would have to ask Madame Giry who would in turn tell Henri about it.

Raoul figured it wouldn't hurt to leave it uncovered for a bit before deciding he was more hungry than hurt. After lunch, Raoul looked at the clock and realized that the orchestra had already finished practicing. That meant he had nothing to do but sleep before he would be able to wander the halls. He didn't want to admit it, but he was tired. Feeling as though he was missing something important, he looked at the mirror again expectantly. Still, nothing happened.

o.o.o.o

Christine looked over to Robert, just to confirm that the man was nearby. He was sitting beside her watching the dancers. He looked entertained enough. She couldn't decide whether his presence was a blessing or a curse. Robert surely was handsome and she had a feeling that she would need him eventually.

She was having a bad day. They had found a new singer to join the chorus and to pick up the slack that Carlotta always left. The young upstart girl was very good actually. Too good in Christine's opinion. Christine knew that having a rival would be bad news for her. She was confident in her abilities to sing, and she hoped that it was enough to not be overthrown by the new singer. She tried not to think too much about it.

The day was interminable and she was already done with rehearsal. However, after her practice she would have to stay until the dancers were done.

Remaining in Madame Giry's sight was actually quite disturbing. Every time Christine moved, it felt as though Madame Giry was staring at her expecting her to do something bad. It was worse than when the Phantom of the Opera had watched her. Not only was Madame Giry watching her though so was Robert and at times so was Meg. It was enough to drive her mad.

She sat on the stage watching the dancers go through the motions. Sometimes she missed dancing, but she really loved to sing. It allowed her to get more of the spotlight and more fans, too. It was all so exciting. She wondered if this was what her father had enjoyed being such a famous violinist. She sighed. Things had been so much easier when she was little. Now though, everything was hard and people were always blaming her for things that just happen.

It wasn't as though she was trying to be bad. Those things just happened to her. Now that the Phantom was dead and Raoul was gone, she would never have to worry about those events happening to her ever again.

She lay on her back letting her mind wander. She could feel the pull of sleep overtake her until Madame Giry's voice shook her awake. Well technically, Robert was shaking her and Madame Giry was once again yelling at her. She sat up and tried to look apologetic. It was really all Madame Giry's fault she was tired. If Madame Giry stopped waking up so early, Christine figured she wouldn't be so sleepy.

Madame Giry gave her a stern look before telling the girls to have a little break while she left to get something.

o.o.o.o

Erik cursed all his luck. He had a feeling that the mystery violinist was behind that mirror. Unfortunately, in his own fit of paranoia, Erik had completely closed off the pathway when Christine had just returned. He moved from cursing his luck to cursing Christine. That woman had to ruin everything for him: first Raoul, then this violinist. He slammed his fist into the wall in frustration. He knew whoever was behind that wall was important but he would not be able to look inside anymore.

The only way to look into the room now would be through the door. That was not an option. Erik glared at the offending wall, his eyes piercing through the darkness. He almost hoped pure willpower would tear it down.

Instead, it left him more frustrated. He moved to the adjoining room to see if there were any clues as to who was staying in this part of the opera house. Moving from room to room, it looked as though a few people were indeed living in the rooms, but no one was around. Finally, Erik gave up and decided it must simply be new workers. Who else would the managers place in storage rooms?

He decided to go back to Madame Giry's room to rest. Unfortunately, when he arrived an angry Madame Giry was waiting for him. He weighed the pros and cons of entering the room. His fatigue won in the end. Ignoring her glare, he walked in and slid the mirror shut. He moved directly towards the bed without saying anything to her. He was tired, and if he wanted to go out again tonight, he would have to rest.

"Where were you?" Madame Giry asked in a clipped voice when she realized he wasn't going to say anything.

Erik lay on the bed with his eyes closed, but he still answered, "I decided I needed some exercise." After a moment of consideration, he continued, "What are you doing here? I know practice hasn't ended yet."

"I came here to check up on you."

Erik scoffed. "I never knew you to be a liar, Madame Giry."

Madame Giry let her anger slip away. She had been worried when she had entered the room and it had been empty. She had taken to locking the room when she left, and Erik hadn't moved in the past week. To say she had been surprised walking into an empty room would have to be an understatement. It was true though that Erik would be the best judge as to how well he was, but she would try to convince him to relax longer. She didn't want him to exacerbate his injuries.

She and Henri had been collaborating over their thoughts about their charges. Interesting facts and stories had come to light, and Erik's reactions to her daily news about the Vicomte were enough to convince her. She had been amused more than surprised, but overall, she had felt glad. Erik did not take rejection very well, and she was certain the only one that saved him from certain self-destruction had to be the Vicomte. There was no other explanation. Nonetheless, she wanted to make certain that the Vicomte felt the same way. She would not let another young child hurt Erik the way that Christine had.

"Madame Giry," Erik said again. He was losing his patience. He had called out her name at least five times now.

Madame Giry snapped out of her thoughts, "Sorry, Erik, I had been thinking."

Erik bit the caustic remark he had down. "I asked what you were going to do with those ballet outfits."

"Oh," Madame Giry looked at the clothes in her hands, "It's something for Christine to do while waiting for ballet practice to end."

Erik turned over and tried to sleep. The mention of Christine's name had annoyed him and he was certain he would say something to annoy Madame Giry. Sleep would definitely be the better action to take.

Madame Giry took her cues well and left the room. She had a rehearsal to finish and some chores to make ready before the day was done.

o.o.o.o

0.0.0.0

o.o.o.o

A/N: Don't forget to R/R (Read and Review)!

So that thing I was going to tell you. You see, this story was actually done a long time ago. However, I got busy and for some reason I thought I'd already posted it, but it seems I haven't. So, sorry. -.- I really am sorry! Thanks to those people who have reminded me and have waited for this conclusion. I hope that it ends to your liking.

o.o.o.o