A/N: In my pressured and stressful times, this has been my one companion. Thanks to everyone for reading and leaving wonderful comments for me. A special thanks goes out to my new beta-reader, Cymbidium. She's been very kind, and extremely helpful. It's thanks to her that I have finally uploaded this chapter. THANKS!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything (if you haven't noticed by now :) )

Ch. 22


Erik drove away from Christine, towards Nadir's home. He was speeding he knew, but didn't much care. There was excitement coursing through him, and he wanted to get this over with and return to her soon.

"I have a small errand to run, Christine," Erik had said as he picked up the violin. She had smiled and nodded her head. "I don't know how long it might take, so you don't have to wait up. We'll start working tomorrow morning."

"I'll wait," she said. He watched her sit at the piano. "I'll play until you return." She turned her pretty smile back to him, and he knew she was as excited as he was.

They'd decided to embark on this together and he wanted to pull out the sheet music right away, but this little debt had to be paid first. He pulled into the driveway and took his violin from the passenger seat. Soon enough, Christine will be sitting there he thought to himself as he walked to the door and rang the bell.


Christine's heart beat madly and the sound of the doorbell drowned out the few uneven notes she played on the piano. Erik was taking her to the gala, to sing something he'd written. Moreover, I'm going to go outside with him. This mattered most to Christine, and that was what made her mind wander from the piano. She was awed by him. She had clearly seen his fear at the idea, had felt it hidden in his rich voice, but he'd faced it. She knew how fragile his trust could be, but Christine was going outside with him, and she knew that as she hoped to be saved, she would not break this promise. I promised to stay by his side...
Mrs. Giry looked surprised when she opened the door to greet Erik. "I didn't know you were dropping by," she noted as she ushered him in. She took his coat and noticed the violin.

"I've come by to pay the debt I owe you, Mrs. Giry." He stood and waited for her to return to the living room. "I'd have come by another evening, but the Daroga insisted on tonight." He heard her small laugh again as she closed the closet.

"Yes, it might be because ma petite has been unable to sleep well these past few nights." She emerged and motioned to a chair. "And by extension, neither have we."

For a moment she'd made the mistake of assuming that Erik would understand her domestic trouble, but she soon corrected herself. "Nadir has gone to pick up some fresh chai tea. Will you wait for him to return before you-"

"No." He shook his head at her offer and her question. "I've some other matters to attend to tonight so I can't stay too long."

She nodded slightly and he waited for her to stand and take him to the infant's nursery. It was not a part of the household that he was comfortable venturing into. He'd never been in that particular room, and except for a brief visit or two, had never been near Madeleine. Madeleine... the name itself wasn't painful to Erik, but it did bring a face into his mind. A face that was adorned by beautiful black silk, but tired and deathly pale just the same.

"Here..." Mrs. Giry motioned to the open door and entered. With a steadying breath he followed suit.

It was not the alien environment he'd built it to be. The pastel walls and padded furniture were different to him, but the soft scent of talcum powder almost oddly reminded him of the feel of Christine's cheek. He halted for a moment to gather his thoughts when he heard the infant laugh.

"Petite Mado," Mrs. Giry said as she picked up the baby. "Will you be good and sleep if Erik plays a lullaby for you?"

Erik had no idea how to react when Mrs. Giry brought Madeleine closer. He saw the plump babe stare at him a moment, clearly able to tell he was a stranger, and felt uncomfortable. Mrs. Giry must have understood because she moved past him quickly to the baby's dresser and pulled out a pink pair of pajamas. She moved back and set Madeleine in her crib and began to change her.

"How has school been?" She changed the topic in an attempt to make him feel more at ease.

"It's frustrating," he explained. "I'm listening to professors who've never written anything of real import and I'm supposed to listen to them." For some reason, he wanted to venture further on the topic. "If I could-"

"You know the circumstances of your life," Mrs. Giry said as she pulled at the jumper constricting Madeleine. "You know it better than I."

Erik was stonily silent a moment, knowing he could not mention anything on that subject. Nadir had imposed restrictions on Erik long ago, and he knew damn well how useless it would be to try and change that. Instead, he moved and settled the violin case on the dresser and began to clean the instrument.

"Does she like a particular song?" He could hear her hum to herself in thought.

"I thought that, you being a musician, you might find something suitable," she answered as she smoothed the baby's hair. She gave one of her soft looks to Erik and he sighed. "I'll leave you to it," she said, and left.

Erik looked at the toddler as it sucked on the pacifier in her mouth. He wasn't sure that it was a good idea to leave him alone with a creature he'd never really been in contact with, but it was too late. Mrs. Giry was out of the room and all he was armed with was a violin.

"Perfect," he sighed again. What to play, he pondered. What was one supposed to play for a child? For Christine all he had to do was play what he liked since they had similar tastes...but this wasn't Christine.

He brought the violin to the crook of his shoulder and took up the bow. In order to calm himself he closed his eyes and tried to forget about the child watching him. With a short stroke to the strings, he began to play.


Nadir had long since found the desired tea and snacks but had walked slowly back to mull over his thoughts. He didn't even know what he was looking for, really. All he had was a young man's word and the feeling in him that somehow Christine was not dead. Now he had to draw Erik out of his shell and into revealing something.

When he opened the door to his home and stepped inside, he could tell something was different. He went and set the bags on the kitchen table and then stepped into the living room. There he heard the faintest strains of the violin and saw his wife sitting to listen quite intently. She must have heard him because she shifted just a little in her seat.

"You've heard him play before, haven't you?" she asked quietly, and he moved to stand beside her.

"Only once, the first night I'd met him," he admitted, looking at her face. Somehow she was glowing where she sat, listening to the music.

"And? What did you think?"

"I'm not musically inclined," he said.

"Regardless, what did you hear?" She sat up now and looked at him as if she could see right into his memories and extract her answer. It was that steady, dark gaze of hers that Nadir had been bewitched by, but now it was being used against him.

"I thought it was the darkest kind of music I'd ever heard." He was honest and knew his wife had known the answer all along. "I couldn't imagine that a young boy could bring that to life." He was rewarded for his answer with one of her small smiles.

"And now he's playing for our child, and it's unlike anything I've heard him play." She patted his arm gently as she walked by him. "I'm going to make some tea."

He watched her go, then sat down in her chair to listen. The soft song of the violin could barely be heard, but it was not the kind of music Erik would play. It sounded like a lullaby, a variation on Brahms. It was true, what he could hear did not resemble that night's music. No, that had been pure fury, delivered by a boy of such thin frame. The image of the pale, transparent skin of his fingers as the boy gripped the neck of the violin would never be erased from the detective's mind.

'What are you playing, lad?'

'...a requiem.'

'It's not a very mournful sound, is it?'

'I'm not mourning.'

How disturbed he'd been by the contrast between the boy's heated, angry music and his emotionless voice! Even now, it bothered the detective to remember. And yet...how could that terrible child play like this? What had happened to him that allowed him to play this kind of sweet music? Had Christine Daae anything to do with it?

"Daroga, back from your expedition?" The detective was so lost in thought that he did not hear Erik come back into the den. He looked up and saw Erik holding his violin case.

"Is Madeleine asleep?"

"Soundly," answered Erik, recalling the infant's wide eyes drooping into slumber as he'd played. He'd placed her little blanket over her as he'd left, but he would not mention that particular detail to anyone, much less the Daroga. "Now, if I'm done here-"

"Nonsense." The detective waved to the kitchen. "Antoinette is preparing some tea and she'd think it rude of you to leave without having a cup."

Seeing Erik give in and sit across from him, Nadir smiled. "How have you been, Erik? We haven't spoken in a short while."

"Well, our last conversation wasn't very pleasant."

"I remember. I think you hung up on me," Nadir chuckled and waved it off. "I suppose I was being harsh. But tell me..." He looked at Erik now. "Don't you feel pity for that boy?"

"I'm not obliged to feel anything towards a stranger," he said, a small scowl on his face.

"Raoul is looking for someone he'll never find," Nadir pressed. "You had something to do with that."

"He's none of my concern." Even if Christine had returned to him, Erik still felt very dark emotions stir when he thought back on that scene in the rain. He doubted he'd ever forgive Raoul for his trespass.

"But the late Ms. Daae is." He untied his tie and sighed.

"That is in the past," Erik quickly replied.

"The thing is, my conscience won't allow me to rest." He dropped the tie into his lap and could not force a smile or cheerfulness into his words. "I keep thinking about the poor girl. Will you answer one of my questions, Erik? To ease my troubled mind."

When he received no mocking retort, Nadir took a breath and kept his eyes on Erik's form. "I looked into her past... She was just an ordinary girl. Did you play a requiem for her at the very least? You did after all murder her."

Erik paused before answering. "I don't force my own hands, Daroga. I don't have to write or play if I don't wish to." He stood abruptly and gathered his violin. "I actually do have some other matters to attend to, Daroga, but I'll come by when I need to be cheered up by your presence."

"I'll be sure and let Antoinette know you're not staying then."

Nadir heard the rustling of a cloak, and then the door opening and closing, and sighed. That could have gone much better he admitted. But had it been merely his imagination, or had he seen the boy flinch? Not much, but for the briefest moment Erik's countenance flickered something that was of great interest to the detective. He had to discover what he'd said to make someone like Erik actually start, if for only a moment.

"And what has kept you from playing your requiem, my ward?"


He found her bent over the piano, head in the crook of her arm. Christine was still awake, but very drowsy, and it was possible that the virus was still bothering her. Erik left his coat in the doorway and set his violin aside. With a hand he placed a loose tendril of hair behind her ear as she looked up at him with half-closed eyes.

"You waited for me." It was an obvious, stupid statement, but after his little chat with the Daroga, Erik had forgotten all about her promise.

She gave a sleepy smile at his response and wearily lifted her head. "I said I would." A hand wiped at her eyes, trying to return to alertness.

"It's late. You need to rest, Christine." He took her hand away from her face. "I wouldn't have been angry if you'd gone to bed." With a little tug he urged her to get up from the bench and she complied.

She stifled a little yawn. "But I was waiting for you. It's not just because I said I would."

As he held her hand she intertwined her fingers with his loosely. In her tired state, Erik mused, she was less reluctant to touch him.

"Then why?" He led her to her room and held on to her hand only a moment longer.

"Because you're my one companion." Her magic words were spoken without fear, just as her fingers fell away from his. He watched her for just a moment longer as she smiled at him from inside her room, then he quickly left her.


As Christine began to unbutton her blouse to change into her nightclothes she heard a soft knock and her doorknob rattle slightly. She gasped and cried out.

"I won't come in," came the response from the other side of the door. "I only wanted to say goodnight."

"Oh...goodnight, Erik." In the silence afterwards she quickly pulled on her pajamas and climbed into her bed. She heard the gentle strains of music from right outside her door. Something soft and strong, commanding her to rest. It couldn't be called a lullaby, but it couldn't have been anything else. She ventured a guess.

"Erik?" She clutched the quilt to herself as she sat up a little.

"Stay in bed, Christine," he replied softly. "I won't come in. Just lie down and listen until you fall asleep."

In this brief interlude he'd never stopped playing. This was not the variation of Brahms he'd played for Madeleine, but a spontaneous expression for Christine alone. As her one companion, he sincerely hoped he would be able to send her off to the land of beautiful song and pleasant dreams.

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