I am not sure if Raoul went into this thinking he would get shot but I think he knew the risk and he had a job to do, which was bring both Gustave and Erik back safe. I hate Raoul. I always have and since there are no other "real" versions of him, I have no choice but to always hate him. LOL But I feel in this story, I gave him a real wakeup call and a chance to be the hero he always claimed he was. It's easier to be a hero when you know who the real enemy is.

I own nothing, except this version of Raoul. LOL Only about half a dozen chapters till the end.

Erik ran towards the water and was stopped by Nadir.

"Erik, I heard a gunshot! I thought….."

Erik looked out towards the ocean. "Raoul has been shot. He's bleeding very badly. You have to go to him. I need to find Gustave." Erik ran off.

Nadir pointed out into the water, calling after him. "He's out there. I was going to go out to him but he's doing so well swimming. The police went out there by boat. I thought if he saw me, it may scare him." Nadir wasn't sure if Erik heard him or not. He ran like hell back towards the docks to find Raoul.

Erik took off his jacket and cravat. His eyes frantically searching the water. "Gustave! Gustave, where are you?" Erik looked around and despite the high currents, swam out to sea.

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Nadir got to the dock just in time to see Madame Giry being carted off by the police, and a weeping Meg kneeling at Raoul's side. Nadir dropped down in front of Raoul and looked at Meg.

"Is he….."

Meg wiped her eyes and nodded.

Nadir bowed his head. "Allah, please look after him now."

An officer tapped Nadir on his shoulder.

"I'm afraid, we are going to have to take to take the lady in for questioning. She says she was a part of this."

Meg stood up before Nadir could reply. "I know this is all my own fault. I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted anyone to get hurt. No one was supposed to die…..Please tell Christine and Erik that I never wanted to hurt Gustave. I knew he could escape if he swam. He can do it. He's a good swimmer. I would never have pushed him if…"

The officer placed her in handcuffs and carted her off. She stopped talking the second she heard the cuffs lock. He pushed her along and she turned her head back to Nadir.

"Tell them I'm sorry. I am so very sorry for everything."

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Christine was cursing herself for agreeing to stay behind. She was pacing the floor, with her thoughts full of worry in the event that anything went wrong.

"Christine, please you have to stop pacing. Of all of Erik's habits to rub off on you, you pick one of my least favorites." Gangle tried to get her to smile. When he saw it wasn't working he became serious. "You have been a nervous wreck for hours. You must have confidence in your plan. All of us did."

"My plan? If something happens tonight, it will be all my fault. And all of you had confidence in my plan, except the one that needs to carry it out! I let Erik go out there unprepared. He was taken off guard. All his life he has had to rely on his instincts. He needs to plan things out. He doesn't like to be surprised and here I go, changing everything before his eyes in a matter of seconds and expect him to carry on, without missing a beat? What if my stupidity cost my Erik his life?"

Gangle stood up and grabbed Christine by the shoulders. "Christine, you plan is what will save him. What Erik wanted to do was far too risky. Nadir and Raoul will protect him and he will have enough wits about him to bring Gustave back home."

She looked out into the air. "What if I was a fool to trust Raoul? God, Erik will never forgive me. What if he thinks that I didn't trust him to bring our son home? What if he sees my contacting Raoul as a betrayal?"

"You can't do this to yourself. Erik knows you love him and right now, the only thing that matters is Gustave. You both would do anything for him."

"I know but I should have told Erik this before he left. I should have….."

Knock, Knock

Gangle and Christine looked at one another. Although both were scared, Gangle remained calm in front of Christine and went to open the door.

"Mother! Mother!"

Christine thought her ears were playing tricks on her. "Gustave?"

"I'm here, Mother! I'm home!"

He ran to her and wrapped her arms around her tightly. Even though he was soaking wet, Christine threw her arms around him for dear life.

"Mother, please forgive me. I am so sorry I lied to you and Father. I never meant to hurt you. I….."

"My precious boy, all that matters is that you are home and safe. I love you so very much. I was so worried. I was afraid that I would never see you…. Never mind those thought now. You're here! You're back and you're safe. That is all that matters."

"Mother, I love you."

She kissed his face for what must have been about a thousand times, until she realized that their family wasn't complete. Suddenly she felt dread in the pit of her stomach.

"Gustave, where is your father?"

"Mother, Father swam out to find me in the ocean. He….He….."

"Is not as good of a swimmer as our boy." Erik entered the house, dripping wet, with no mask or wig. "He actually ended up saving me." He ran to them and hugged them fiercely in his embrace.

After the shock wore off that both her men were safe and home, Gangle wrapped both father and son in blankets. Christine placed he hands on Erik's cheeks and started to beg his forgiveness.

"Angel, I am so sorry I didn't tell you my plan. I was afraid you would say no and the more I thought about what you were willing to risk, I knew I could never have you go through with it. That's when I got Nadir and Gangle and Raoul to…. Oh, dear heart, I never wanted you to feel defenseless. I was so afraid of what you must have thought. I did it for us. I couldn't risk losing either one of you."

He kissed her passionately, in front of Gustave and Gangle and he really didn't care who else.

"I have never known anyone as brave or a wondrous as you are. Christine. "You are not just my angel of music but you are my guardian angel too."

He kissed her again and then realized he had gotten her hair wet.

"Christine, I'm sorry. Your hair. I shouldn't have…"

"Don't stop touching me. This is what happiness is. I couldn't care less about my wet hair."

He laughed. "I suppose I am quite a sight to see, though. Thank God, you fell for me long before you saw this sight." He laughed as he pinched Gustave's cheek.

"You have never looked as good to me, as you do right now, my angel." She placed her head on his shoulder, as her arms went around Gustave. "Tell me the truth, what was going through your mind when you saw Raoul?" She giggled.

Erik paused. He then titled Christine's head up and took both her hand and Gustave's and walked them to the couch. "Christine…. Gustave, I am very sorry to tell you both this, but he was shot. I sent Nadir to help him but by that time he had already lost so much blood. I am very sorry. He died a hero and I will always be grateful to him for his self-sacrifice."

Gustave placed his head on Erik's knee and Christine cried silently in his arms.