Author's note: Anyone who has seen this version of Phantom is already familiar with the way Erik and Gerard interact, with sort of a light humour underlied by Gerard acting as Erik's conscience to some small degree. I know some folks reading this haven't seen this version yet, though, so I'm including an example of their dialogue from the movie. This happens right after Gerard gets sacked; he comes down and tells Erik, and while they're talking a sort of shrieking sound issues from above.

Erik: My God! This place really is haunted! What is that?
Gerard: Without looking, I can say with confidence that it must be Carlotta.
Erik: Who is Carlotta?
Gerard: The new star.
Erik: She can't sing!
Gerard: I don't think she knows that.
Erik: Well, someone should tell her!
Gerard: She's married to the new manager.
Erik: Good God! That probably means she's going to sing all the time. What kind of horror are you leaving me in?
Gerard: Erik, what are we going to do about all this?
Erik: I know what I'm going to do about it: I'll simply kill them both.
Gerard: Erik.
Erik: I am teasing. Probably the only one I'll have to kill is her.
Gerard: Erik!
Erik: What has happened to your sense of humour?
Gerard: My humour?

and it goes on from there.

Also, in this version they spell Christine's name with two E's (no one know why), so when you see it, it's not a typo. "Daee" is the right way to spell it here.


From outside the room, Gerard Carrière watched with wonder through the window as Christine removed his son's mask and kissed him again and again on his malformed face. The trace of a smile crossed his face and he shook his head. Philippe wasn't going to like this.

Well, Philippe could go hang, as far as Gerard was concerned. That pretty-faced playboy had to learn sooner or later that he couldn't buy just anything he wanted. If Christine preferred Erik to Philippe, then Gerard could only congratulate her on her good taste. Erik was ten times the man that Philippe was. Gerard had worried for him, giving his heart to so young a girl; he had feared that Erik would be dreadfully hurt; he'd been afraid that Christine wouldn't be able to see past the mask to the great heart of the man who wore it. Now, though, it was clear that she had no trouble seeing past the mask… or even beneath it.

Gerard shook his head. The girl had a stronger stomach than he did, that was for sure. He started to back away silently, but his boot scraped on a flagstone. Erik heard it, and his head shot up as he locked eyes with Gerard. Gerard shook his head and spread out his hands in an apologetic gesture as he backed away.

Erik gave Christine one final kiss on the forehead and then stepped back, re-masking himself quickly. "Gerard!" his voice cracked out, loud in the stillness.

Gerard came slowly back into view. "Good morning. Forgive me; I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No matter; I was planning to go talk to you later anyway. You've saved me a trip above," Erik told him.

"What? What did you want to talk to me about?" Gerard asked in surprise, leaving the rest of his sentence unspoken: at a time like this?

Erik heard the rest of his sentence anyway, and his mouth twitched a little in acknowledgement. "I wanted to ask you if you knew anyone who would want to have Christine killed," he demanded.

"What?" Gerard asked, staring.

"She was attacked last night as she left the opera."

Gerard looked to Christine for confirmation; she nodded, looking frightened again. She stepped a little closer to Erik's side and surreptitiously reached for his hand. It was warm, strong, and steady, and she clung to it thankfully. She didn't like to be reminded of last night; no, especially not after the events of this morning!

Erik turned to her. "I need to tell Gerard what happened, but there is no need for you to go through it again, my dear. If you'd like to wait in the music room, I'll be there shortly."

Christine nodded gratefully. She smiled a goodbye to Gerard and headed toward the room where she had first heard Erik playing his flute.

"I didn't mean to intrude; I didn't know you had company," Gerard told him after Christine had left. Knowing that Erik had killed men if he even so much as suspected they'd seen his face, he was just a bit nervous.

Erik waved away his apology. "No matter. Much as I'd have liked to kill you at that moment, I can't. You're the only friend I have. And I'm sure it would have made Christine nervous."

"And it might get messy," Gerard agreed, falling gratefully into the lighter banter. "These carpets were expensive, as I recall." He pulled out a chair and sat down, and Erik followed suit.

"True. I'm just sorry you had to be subjected to the sight of my face," Erik told him. He knew what was worrying Gerard, and he sought to put the man at ease. He couldn't very well kill him; one of these days he was going to get Gerard to admit to being his father.

"As to that—well, I've seen better. Miss Daée certainly didn't seem to mind, though. But what's this about someone trying to kill her?"

"Her attackers knew her name, knew that she was a singer here. From her description, I was left with the strong impression that they'd been paid to get her out of the way. Who would want to kill Christine, Gerard?"

Gerard frowned. "Someone with enough money, probably. I know she has rivals in the chorus and the ballet alike, who hate her because of the Count de Chagny's interest. Carlotta is definitely not fond of her, and neither is Choletti." He paused, thinking hard.

Erik pursed his lips. "Carlotta will have other things on her mind for quite some time, I think." Her screams as he'd dumped a case full of rats all over her still echoed in his ears and made him smile whenever he thought about it. The experience had unhinged her mind to the point where she now saw rats everywhere she looked. Served her right for poisoning his Christine and sabotaging her debut.

"So I've heard," was Gerard's amused reply. Carlotta had earned none of his sympathy, and if Erik wanted to take his revenge with rats, well, at least he wasn't killing people.

"Who else, then?" Erik wanted to know.

"I've no idea. Are you sure they were doing it for pay?"

"No, I'm not; it's just a hunch I had while she was telling me about it. It seemed too well-planned to have been just a couple of thugs out having a lark."

"So what happened?"

"I'd gone out for a ride, to get some fresh air. When I returned I heard her scream; she was being set upon by two men who had threatened to take her home and have some 'fun' with her before they killed her." Erik growled a little, and then went on. "I jumped off the top of the carriage and explained to them quite reasonably what a bad idea that would be."

"I see," Gerard said sceptically. He had past experience with some of Erik's reasonable explanations. "Are they alive?"

"I have no idea. I beat them until they stopped moving, and then I left them lying in the middle of the Rue Scribe while I brought Christine down here. I can only hope they were then run over by a passing carriage. Repeatedly."

"Well, I'll ask around up there, and I'll certainly keep an eye on her whenever I can," Gerard promised. "What are you going to do with her? Shall you send her back this time?"

Erik shook his head. "I'm not sure. I can't protect her up there. I offered to bring her back this morning, but she asked if she could stay a little longer." He almost smiled.

"I see. Well!" Gerard said, impressed. "I hope things work out between the two of you, then. I'd better get going; I have a meeting with Inspector Ledoux this morning. I'm supposed to come up with some clever plan of catching you."

Erik scoffed. "Good luck with that little enterprise, Gerard," he said. "You'll need it."

Gerard chuckled. "Well, I have a couple of ideas," he said. "How about giving me your opinion on them?"

"I will listen," Erik said, "but not now. I have more pressing matters to take care of." His quick glance in the direction of the music room left Gerard with no doubts as to what "pressing matters" he referred to.

Gerard grinned. "I'll leave you to it, then. Come and find me when you have a moment." He turned and started back up the stairs.

Erik waved absently and hurried from the room.