A shy, tall, brown haired woman opened the door. Edward smiled as charmingly as he could and extended his hand. "Bonjour mademoiselle."

"Eh…Bonjour." She replied, slightly confused. "Tu tappelle comment?"

"Je mappelle Edward Delereux. Et toi?"

"Jen." she replied softly. Her blue-grey eyes met his brown ones and she smiled. Edward thought she looked confused. "Je ne parle pas francais…" she told him. He nodded, luckily his father had insisted he learn English as well as his native French. "Je parle anglais." He told her, smiling comfortingly. She was pretty, if not beautiful.

"Sorry." She said quickly. "I know a little French, but not much. I'm American. And it is nice to meet you Edward Delereux."

"Same. I was told you have been chosen as our next percussionist and wondered if you would like a tour. I play percussion in the orchestra…" Jen smiled as he talked. He was cute, and she loved his accent.

"I would love it. Uh, do you mind if my friend-" she turned to look at Gabby and mouthed 'Morg?' Her friend nodded and she turned back to Edward. "-Morg joins us?"

Edward shook his head. "No, she may come. Is she also in the orchestra?"

Jen shrugged. "She plays cello." Edward smiled. "My friend Joseph plays cello. And it is also a pleasure to meet you, Mademoiselle."

Gabby smiled back. "Well, lets go." She said, grabbing her bag of paper, pictures, and pencils.

"This way if you please." Edward took Jen's arm and lead her down the hallway, Gabby following in tow.

XxXxXxXxX

Jen smiled at their guide when he wasn't looking. He was very friendly, and even more informative. She hoped that her playing wouldn't upset him too much. She had never been the greatest musician in her band. She did work hard though…when she wanted too. Which hadn't been often. But when you have around five hours of band a day, once can't keep their concentration on it. It starts getting old.

"And this is where we store the equipment." Edward gestured to the storage room. Jen grinned when she saw the instruments. They were old, but in good condition. "And if you will follow me…" his voice faded as Jen zoned off again. She wondered how the hell she arrived here, but didn't care. If she was in the Opera Populaire, a fictional building, then that meant she was wherever the Phantom was. Where Erik was, she corrected herself. She wondered if he had anything to do with this. No, of course not silly, she told herself, that would be too phic-like. And Jen knew she wasn't in a phan fic…was she?

Looking up, she noticed that her escort and friend had disappeared, leaving her alone in the small, dark room. Jen sighed irritably, this is what always happened to her. She needed to pay more attention to what was really happening and not what she wanted to happen. What she wanted to happen was for Erik to come to her aid, and lead her to his lair and…ok, she wasn't going there. But reality wasn't fair.

"You might want to go that way." A voice told her. It came from the corner of the room. Jen spun around and found herself facing…no one. "That door." The voice told her.

Jen saw the door swing open and shuddered. If the voice had not been a woman's, she would have thought the infamous Phantom was helping her.

XxXxXxXxX

Erik sat in the shadows, observing everything that happened within his domain. Every new visitor or worker, and all the old, he knew of. He knew who was where at what time and why. He could point to any member of the Opera's cast and tell you who they were, how long they had been there, and if he thought they were worthy or not. Of course, he didn't have anyone to tell any of this too, but he decided that he needed to have something to fill his hours.

However, there was one exception to all this. And he did not like it. He did not know who Tai was, where she was from, or why she was there. He would have to interrogate her more thoroughly next time she appeared. Which, if she tried to come at a scheduled time, would be very soon.

He sat down with some paper and a stick of charcoal while he waited. He could get some work on Don Juan Triumphant. He needed to design sets and costumes still. Not to mention finish the music. But that could wait. He was in no mood to compose.

As he let his creativity flow onto the page, that familiar sound told him that she had arrived. A crash and swearing today. Erik sighed and put up his work.

"Good day Tai." He said, almost pleasantly. The strange masked woman rolled her eyes. "As if."

"What?" he was confused. He was being friendly for once and she was as irritable as ever. "Today sucks." She answered. Erik raised an eyebrow at the odd word, but let it pass.

"And why does it…suck…" Tai smiled faintly at his pronunciation, but then glowered again. "Because it just does, alright?"

"Are you still upset about what happened last time?" Erik asked. Her eyes narrowed. "Who wouldn't be?"

"Well, I wanted to apologize." Erik told her. Tai rolled her eyes, he could be such a gentleman at times, and at others…best not to be said. "About bloody time." She muttered under her breath.

"Well, I suppose you are going to torment me again?" Erik asked. Tai just sat down in the chair he had facing the magnificent pipe organ and glared at the wall behind him. "Why bother? All it gets me is another slap or yell."

"It seems we are not happy today." Erik noticed that Tai was far from her usual perky and annoying self.

"No, we are not. And if you would be so kind as to leave us alone…" she growled. Erik sighed. "If you do not with to be civil, why are you here?"

"Hiding." She told him quickly.

"From what?" he asked, curious. She shivered and Erik watched her. This was nothing like the Tai he knew. "From them." She replied, her voice a whisper. "And from myself."

A/N and Review Replies: First, sorry about the delay and short chapter, I had trouble writing this one…and I have been dead tired after marching band practice. But here it is. Hope you enjoyed it.

MJ MOD- Hahah, yeah, they will…and I love Tai slapping Erik, and he did deserve it…but so did she…and well, Tai is not sure what she is doing I don't think…

Tallacus- yeah, he is forced to put up with us a lot, and well, Tai couldn't resist endangering Jen…heheh…she is weird like that…

MikoHatome- heheh, yep and thanks for reviewing!