Chapter Summary: Tallis beckons Erik into Trevinny. And as he leaves Trevinny, the lair beckons to him. A woman shows up at the jail with food and bible verses, provoking a strange reaction from Louis.

Author's Notes: Sorry about how long it took to update but I was moving … again … for the eighth time in a little over three years. I have vowed that the next time I do this it will be to a home that I own or my grave! But I am at last settled into my own apartment and able to – once again – write to my heart's content with no interruptions! Thanks for your patience and hanging in there with me! Thanks for your patience and hanging in there with me! Oh - and I am flagging this chapter with a "Tissue Issue" warning - it gets weepy. And - finally - thanks go out to LiveJournal user "Shaherazade" for her comments that lead to the twist at the end of this chapter. It was not how I had planned but - oh - it is so effective! Thank you!

CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE

Erik stood just beyond the front door of Trevinny, unable to hear a single word that the woman before him had spoken. He simply stared at her, the vision she presented, drinking in every curve, every angle. He marveled at the autumn gold sparkling in her hair, the angry glint of silver frost in her gray eyes. He longed to reach out to touch her, pull her close, mold her to his body. He remembered how she always smelled of clean air and tasted like manna from heaven. And Erik remembered the stern stance he was looking at, the set of her shoulders, the frown that slightly turned down those soft lips.

"Would you like to come in or shall we just stand here and speak?" Tallis wondered pulling him from his silent appreciation.

Erik took a moment to swallow down his pride and apprehension. "Whatever will make you most comfortable," he replied.

"I know that saying my comfort depends upon your leaving will do no good," Tallis told him and moved aside. "I suppose that means you must come in."

Erik took off the fedora that covered the right side of his face and stepped across the threshold of Trevinny with more confidence than he felt. He stood like a guilty schoolboy, hat running through trembling fingers, eyes downcast as Tallis closed the heavy front door. Erik knew that she stood watching him, waiting for him to make the first move and for the first time in his life, Erik was at a loss as to what to do.

"At least have the decency to look me in the eyes," Tallis said softly, her tone not scolding or demanding, just requesting; it was what caught the strings of Erik's heart and played them like a virtuoso.

Erik finally raised his head. "I was afraid to see what might be in those eyes."

Tallis simply shook her head. "I cannot picture you afraid of anything."

"You frighten me beyond words," Erik replied.

"Good," Tallis said and began to walk down one of the two halls that branched off from the main foyer. She turned to look at Erik. "Are you going to join me or shall we shout back and forth from room to room like children?"

"I am often accused of being a child," Erik muttered but not so quietly that Tallis did not hear him and he watched as she stopped, turning to look at him.

"That is something I would never accuse you of being," she told him and turned to open the door to her left.

Erik drew his fading confidence about him like a protective cloak and walked toward Tallis. Something in his stomach dropped as he watched Tallis place her hands behind her back as he reached her side. But Erik ignored the acid that roiled up in that stomach and graciously held out a hand toward the room beyond the open door. "Shall we?" he wondered.

Tallis favored him with a smile that held little warmth. "I believe I shall – yet again – ignore the dictates of polite society and insist that you enter the room first."

"No," Erik replied, suddenly standing his ground.

Tallis' smile turned from cold and distant to sickeningly sweet. "I am afraid I am going to have to insist."

Erik refused to move. "Why?" he asked. "So you can trap me in a room and yell at me as Christine did?" He knew the words were wrong the minute they slipped unguarded from his lips. Yet Erik found he no longer had control of his thoughts, his deeds, his very words.

"Yes," Tallis said simply and entered the room leaving a shocked Erik staring at the empty space where she had stood. "If you wish to stand there," Erik heard Tallis call to him, "then by all means, please feel free to do so. I can raise my voice so that you will hear what I wish to say."

Erik could feel the roiling in his stomach begin to creep outwards, causing his hands to clench at his side, his breathing to become deeper in an attempt to stop the angry racing of his heart. The softly accented male voice that suddenly demanded his attention only added to his agitation and annoyance.

"Is there anything with which I may help?" a young man wished to know.

Erik found himself staring into a perfect and handsome face. His eyes narrowed as he took in the openness of the blue eyes, the flawless skin, the curly blonde hair. "No," he snarled at the person before him as he slammed the door closed, turning the key and turning to face Tallis.

"Now I shall have to apologize to my employer for your sadly lacking manners," she sighed.

Erik drew a deep breath and took long strides toward Tallis with each word that escaped his lips. "You do not ever apologize for me," he spat through tightly clenched teeth. He reached her side, grabbing Tallis by the arms and lifting her to her feet. "Is that understood?" Erik's angry gaze reflected the equally angry gaze staring back at him but he found he could not resist the allure of the frowning lips that beckoned so seductively. "I have missed you," Erik gasped as his breath left his body and he claimed those lips as his own and for just a moment he found the woman in his arms yielding and compliant, her lips responding to his. And just as quickly she was pulling away from him, leaving his heart as empty as his arms.

"Do not dare to assume that such actions will cause me to giggle like a girl barely out of the nursery," Tallis said softly, her eyes narrowing. "Or make me change my mind or stop the words that have been on my lips for weeks."

Erik watched as Tallis resumed her place upon the sofa, calmly smoothing out the wrinkles that his hands had created on her sleeves. He watched as she folded her hands in her lap, finally raising her eyes to his face.

"Do you wish me to get a crick in my neck while I speak to you or shall you be a gentleman and sit by my side?" Tallis wondered.

"I shall be a gentlemen," Erik groused as he sat on the opposite end of the sofa. "I shall keep my distance and listen to what you have to say on one condition."

Tallis' eyebrows raised in wonder. "I did not know that you would be setting conditions upon what I had to say."

The hands resting upon Erik's knees clenched into tight balls. "All I wish is that when you are finished, I may have my say," he replied between clenched teeth.

"I find that condition perfectly acceptable," Tallis nodded.

Erik returned her nod, his hands remaining in tight balls. "Please," he said simply as he stared at the woman sitting still and peaceful on the other end of the sofa, waiting for the angry outburst, the scathing words, the cutting looks and bitter emotion that had been his lot throughout life. He was not prepared for the honest simplicity of Tallis' reaction.

"I loved you," Tallis began. "I loved you not because of some tender, foolish feminine instinct to protect a lost stray. I did not love you out of some strange sense of pity for all you had never been nor had. I loved you simply because you were. I loved you because you treated me as an equal when we met and not as Madame Giry's paid companion. I loved you because you opened the locks to dreams I did not even know I had. I loved you because you made me smile and laugh. I loved you because you did not laugh at my inexperience. I loved you because you did not laugh at me. I loved you because you saw me as a friend. I loved you because you saw me as a woman worthy of being loved. I loved you because you created feelings and desires in me that felt right and comfortable." Tallis shook her head. "I loved you with all my heart."

"You do not love me anymore?" Erik interrupted softly, almost to himself.

"I still love you," Tallis replied. Erik saw only sadness in her eyes, heard only sadness in her words. "But I trusted you with my heart and you broke it." Tallis' chin trembled but Erik could see no tears in her eyes. "You broke my heart into tiny pieces and I will never be able to find them all again." Tallis drew a deep breath. "And I can never forgive you for that. I can never forgive you for betraying my trust."

"I never betrayed you with Christine!" Erik insisted. "We did nothing but speak! We struggled to find the words to forgive each other! We did nothing!"

Tallis heaved a deep sigh. "This is not about Christine." She thought for a moment. "Not really. This is about you and me. This is about the hope I saw in your eyes whenever you would speak of Christine. This is about my telling you that if I ever saw that hope in your eyes, I would leave. This is about my keeping my promise."

"It is a promise that does not need to be kept!" Erik could no longer contain his agitation. He rose to his feet and began to pace. "Why can you not understand – nothing happened between Christine and I!" He paused briefly, holding out his hands toward Tallis. "We … she and I … there were so many things left unsaid, left undone between us. There had been so much fear on her part and – yes – so much hope on mine. We needed to find our way past those emotions. She needed to find a way to forgive and I needed to find a way to be forgiven. And we found it!" Erik tried to compose himself. "And her husband is still alive."

"What?" Tallis exclaimed. "I thought he had died!"

"It is a long, troubled story," Erik told her. "Suffice it to say that Christine has returned to her husband and I hope for them both that the Vicomte is on the road to recovery."

Tallis lowered her head; it was not the reaction Erik was expecting. "I see," she said and kept her head lowered. "Once again Christine slips from your grasp so you think to return to me."

"God damn it!" Erik shouted, his outburst shaking Tallis. "I am not here because Christine is once again in the arms of that boy!" His voice reverberated off the walls. "I am here because I love you!"

Tallis finally rose to her feet, her anger just as palpable as Erik's. "It is not enough!" she shouted.

Erik stared at Tallis for a long moment, a strange fire beginning to glow in his eyes. "What would be enough?" he finally asked, the strange power resonating in his voice making his words seem to come from every corner of the room. Erik stood still. "What do you want from me?" His hands slowly moved outward from his body, opening, beckoning. "Tell me what you want and I will give it to you!"

Tallis, too, stood her ground. "I do not want the Phantom! So stop trying your parlor tricks on me!"

"I am the Phantom," Erik hissed.

Tallis moved quickly to stand directly before Erik, a single hand reaching up to slap the unmarred side of his face before he knew what had happened. "You are not the Phantom!" she hissed back. "You are Erik!"

"I am the Phantom!" Erik insisted. "I am a beast and a murderer! I am ugly and warped and twisted! I am every nightmare you have ever had!"

"You are Erik!" Tallis shouted, her hands reaching up to cup his angry visage. "You are the man I love," she finished, drawing his head down so that she could kiss his lips before letting him go, her head sagging against his chest. "But it is not enough," she finished, a cry in her voice.

Erik stood helplessly, his hands useless at his sides as he stared at the head resting over his beating heart. A single hand slowly reached up to rub against the sting that burned his cheek. Yet that sting did not burn nearly as bright as the words burning themselves into his heart. "What…" Erik began and paused to draw a deep breath. "What," he tried again, "would make it enough?"

"Nothing," Tallis replied with a shake of her bent head.

"There must be something!" A note of desperation could be heard in Erik's voice.

"You still do not understand," Tallis sighed as she raised her head to look Erik in the eyes.

"Then make me understand!"

Tallis clasped her hands at her waist. "I cannot trust you any longer." She shook her head. "I thought I would always be able to trust you. I thought I would be able to share your heart with Christine and your memories of her but I cannot. I do want to do so." Tallis closed her eyes against the pained look upon Erik's face. "I need more than that. I deserve more than that." She opened her eyes again. "You taught me that. You taught me that I was worthy of all that life – and love – had to offer me." Tallis laughed, it was a sad sound. "Now I find I want nothing less. I want all of you and I can never have that…"

"But you can!" Erik interrupted, fighting back the urge to grab the woman before him and shake her.

"No," Tallis replied gently. "I will never have all of you for there will always be a part that will belong to Christine. You will hear it call to you and turn from me to listen to it." Tallis nodded. "And that is when my trust in you will be betrayed again. And again. And again. And – as much as I love you – I cannot live like that." She drew a deep breath, squaring her shoulders. "We cannot live like that."

"You love me. I love you." Erik was desperately trying to find reason in the words he was hearing. "Yet you will not be with me." And he could find none. "It makes no sense!"

"You loved Christine with all your heart," Tallis began softly, "and you poured your very soul into her, into her voice and yet she loved another. Does that make any sense?"

Erik turned his head so that he did not have to look at the woman before him.

"I fell in love with a man who has a mind that amazes me in its capacity for learning. He has a zest for life that he fights against every hour of every minute of every day." Tallis let out a long breath. "And he has a heart that is so huge, he has not even begun to explore its deep expanse."

Erik whirled on her. "And that is not enough for you? What more do you want?"

Tallis stuck her chin out. "I want a man who belongs to only me. Whose every thought is only for me. Whose heart beats only for me."

"And you think I am incapable of such things?" Erik asked softly.

"I do not think you are incapable," Tallis replied. "I know you are incapable."

There was a long potent silence between them broken by Erik once again grabbing Tallis by the arms. He leaned slightly forward so that his face was nearly touching hers. "Then know this, Mademoiselle," he began. "I loved Christine. Is that what you wanted to hear? Is it? I loved her! I loved her for her beauty and grace and all the potential I saw in her. She was the most sweetly exquisite creature I had ever seen!" Erik could see the tears begin to gather in the corners of Tallis' eyes and he knew she would never let them fall before him. "I loved her and I thought I would die when she left to go with that boy. I thought my life was over. I wanted to do nothing but crawl into a hole and die!"

The emotional heaving of Erik's chest matched that of the woman he held. "I wanted to die! I did not want to live a life without beauty, without the beauty that Christine brought to my darkness." He shook his head, an ugly angry frown distorting his lips. "And then one day I met a young woman who did not turn from me in horror. She smiled and took my hand and treated me as if I was just another human being. She began to show me that there was a world beyond my darkness. She stood at the edge of the world I wanted and beckoned me forward. And I let her! Damn it all to Hell, I let her! I let down my guards and let her into my darkness. And – do you know what I learned from her?" There was no answer from Tallis and Erik shook her. "Do you?" he shouted.

"No," Tallis whispered.

"I learned that beauty does not need to be exquisite like a fine porcelain or a painting from a master." Some of the anger deflated from Erik and his angry frown began to fade into sadness. "She taught me that beauty lies within the simplest of things, that beauty lies within each of us. She taught me to see beyond the obvious. She taught me to reach beyond myself for what I desired. She taught me to reach for the stars that gleamed in her eyes." Erik sighed. "And I very nearly held them in my hands. I had true beauty within my grasp - a beauty that is honest and true, a beauty that will never fade, a beauty that is eternal – and it slipped through my fingers."

"Not on purpose," Tallis reminded him as she sniffled back her tears.

"No," Erik had to agree, "not on purpose. But such is the story of my life." He shook his head sadly. "I always manage to find beauty only to have it torn from me." He let go of Tallis arms, dropping his hands to his sides, studying her eyes. "It really is over, is it not?"

Tallis could only nod.

"Can you at least find it within your heart to forgive me?" Erik wondered.

"There is nothing to forgive," Tallis said, her chin trembling. "I knew what I was doing. I knew what consequences might arise if I fell in love with you. I was willing to take that chance – once. I cannot do it again." She worried her bottom lip for a moment. "I cannot face the uncertainty of that which will always call to you. I cannot take the dread that someone will find you out. I cannot bear the thought that I would have to watch you face a court for all you have done." Tallis reached out for Erik, placing a shaking hand on his arm. "If I am to ever face the possibility of losing you, I would like to be the one to chose the time and place. That time is now and that place is here."

"Thank you for your honesty." Erik refused to hang his head. "It was always one of the things I loved most about you." He cleared his throat. "What will you do now?"

Tallis shrugged. "Remain in England, keep house for the Count. He has been very good to me." She looked around at the elegantly appointed room. "And I like it here. This is a fine home and the Count has given me the estate cottage as my own; it is large enough so that my cousins may come for visits." Tallis stood silent for a moment as she struggled to read the now veiled eyes of the man before her. "And what of you? What shall become of you?"

"I will return to France," Erik told her. "I must compose a lullaby for Meg and Val – they are expecting their first child."

A genuine smile crossed Tallis' face. "I am glad! Madame Giry shall be the best grandmother! I know such news must make her happy."

Erik inclined his head. "It does. It has." He thought for a moment. "After the lullaby is finished, I do not know what I shall do. Perhaps Antoinette will be able to give me some guidance." He laughed, there was no emotion in the sound. "She has always given me guidance." Erik drew himself up and gave Tallis a sad smile. He reached out a hand to cup her cheek. "I will always carry you within my heart," he began, a single finger beginning to caress the skin beneath it. "I will hope that you will find someone who will be worthy of all that you have to offer." He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss against Tallis' lips, turning his head to whisper in her ear. "And I shall always love you."

"Erik …" Tallis began.

Erik placed a finger against her lips as he drew back. "No. Do not say anything else. Let me at least take away my illusions." He withdrew his finger. "Perhaps there will come a day in the future when you will receive a packet from your old Erik. I hope that you will accept it with the graciousness I know you possess. And I hope it will please you."

Erik turned on his heel and walked across the room, stopping to turn the key in the lock before opening the door. He nodded politely at the blonde man coming out of the room across the hall before turning down that hall. Erik walked erect, head held high, footsteps measured and even. It was that stance, that stride that walked out of the front door of Trevinny and down the drive. As he walked Erik began the process of shedding the light of the world and gratefully began to return to the darkness of the lair. He could feel the loving warmth flee before the cold bitterness that was a known and well-loved companion. Each step back toward the inn on the other side of the village saw Erik the man began to disappear to be replaced by Erik the Phantom.

Yet neither man nor Phantom heard the pained cry that escaped the lips of the woman he was leaving behind. Neither man nor Phantom would see as she fell to her knees, hands going over her mouth as she screamed out her pain. Neither man nor Phantom would see the young blonde man rush to her side, going to his knees, pulling her close, knowing and sharing her pain. The man was no longer capable of caring and the Phantom did not.

Even as Erik faded from man to Phantom, another illusion, a deadlier illusion was being played out in a French jail in the village of Chagny.

Inspector Guy Rousseau was coming down the stairs from the second floor when a woman with a large bonnet covering her face entered the jail through a door held open by a young officer. Guy took note of the covered tray she held in her hands, the small leather pouch dangling from one arm and shook his head, wondering at the ways of village life. The jail did not have a proper way to prepare meals for the current prisoners and the local church had volunteered themselves to fix food to sustain the prisoners' stomachs and bible verses to sustain what was left of their souls. Chief Inspector Pichette had been greatly perturbed by the lack of security surrounding the two dangerous prisoners housed in the simple jail and had ordered the church congregants to always be escorted by a high-ranking official.

Tonight that official was Inspector Rousseau.

Guy smiled as he descended the remaining few stairs and crossed the wooden floor to stand before the sergeant's desk. "May I help you, Madame?" he asked, smiling as the woman turned to him.

"Please, if you would be so kind, Monsieur," the woman replied.

Guy was momentarily shocked by the deep tone of the woman's voice. Then, as he studied the face beneath the bonnet, his shock was replaced by understanding.

The woman was of middle-aged with a face that was probably once exceedingly beautiful but now bore the weight of her age. She was dressed all in black, a color that effectively hid what was beneath, just as the large bonnet hid the color of her hair. Yet nothing could hide the emotion in her large eyes. Guy found himself drawn into those windows to her soul, finding himself becoming lost and entangled in an emotion he could not explain.

Guy mentally shook himself.

"You bring food for the prisoners?" he asked.

The woman nodded her head. "Oui, Monsieur." She inclined her head toward the leather pouch she carried. "I also bring verses from the bible in the hopes of redeeming the souls that God has placed in each of us."

Guy shook his head. "These men have no souls – begging your pardon, Madame."

"Such is the sentiment around the village," the woman acknowledged. "Yet I would like to believe that all men are capable of being redeemed."

"Would that I still had your faith," Guy said with a smile and opened the small swinging door that led to the back where the prisoners were held. He stepped back to allow the woman to pass before him. "You know you must leave the tray with one of the guards, as well as the bible verses. You must not get near enough to the prisoners to allow them to touch you. I am responsible for your safety."

The woman stared straight ahead. "God is responsible for my safety."

Guy shook his head and wondered at those who would always struggle to see the good in others. He turned the key in the lock, opening the door and knowing that the two prisoners within had no good within them and were utterly incapable of being redeemed. "Place the tray in the middle," Guy instructed the woman. "Halfway between the cells."

"As you instruct," the woman said and walked a few steps into the cell area of the jail, bending over slightly to rest the tray atop the stool that had been placed there.

"They take such good care of their toys," Nico's voice could be heard saying.

Louis' hands could be seen holding onto the bars of his cell. "I do not understand why they bother to feed us if they only intend to kill us later." He snorted. "And they bring us bible verses that they know damn well we ain't gonna read."

"The stomach and the soul both need to be nourished," the woman said as she straightened, turning slowly to look at Louis, a smile crossing her face as the recognition dawned in his eyes.

"You," he breathed.

"The good Lord always watches over all His lost sheep," the woman said as she stared at Louis.

"Madame," Guy said.

"Always," the woman breathed in Louis' direction before turning and leaving, allowing Guy to close and lock the door behind her.

Her single word rang in Louis' head like the clarion call of the trumpets on Judgement Day.

"Always."