"Everyone this is Danielle. She is the new cleaning girl and I want you to be nice to her. She is the one single handedly cleaning box 5 and she will be staying in the dormitories here." I smiled to the cast of Faust. The dancers had met me the night before and smiled at me. They had already gone through the stages of accepting a black girl into their lives, surprisingly with grace, the others looked at me with a mixture of confusion and awe. Awe because I was brave enough to clean the Phantom's box and confusion because there was a black girl in their midst and they had to respect me.

"It's nice to meet you all." I dipped my head to them and there were hello's all around.

"Now we will begin rehearsing the ballet! Come girls." The ballerinas fell into place and Madame Giry began showing them the steps. The crowed went their separate ways, actors to the wings to practice their parts, Carlotta got the lead, the bitch, she had acted as if I wasn't there. The stage hands went into the rafters after cat calling me and the musicians went into the pit to play the music softly with the conductor. To my surprise the little person from the movie came up to me.

"We're a minority here, you know? If anyone messes with you tell me, I'll have your back." He stuck his hand out and I grasped it in mine.

"Thanks, you really have no idea how great it is to hear you say that. I think I'm going to get some bitchy remarks in the next few weeks." He smiled at me.

"Don't worry, It'll get better. Pretty soon we'll all be like one big happy, family. I'm Alphonse by the way."

"Danielle." He waved goodbye and went to join the actors. It felt good to have another minority around. I walked off the stage and went to the room where the cleaning stuff was, I was knocked off my feet over by one of the stage hands. "Shit!" I said as I landed flat on my ass.

"Sorry, I'm sorry; I didn't see where I was going." He held his hand out and helped me up. I looked up to see a pretty cute stagehand. Curly dark hair, dark blue eyes and a fair complexion; handsome but not my type.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter; I know you didn't mean to." I brushed the stage dirt off my butt and began to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" I turned around to see the cute stagehand running after me.

"What?"

"Are you really cleaning the Phantom of the Opera's box? Have you have any trouble?" He wants know if I've seen Erik.

"Nope. Unless you count trying to reach the top of the curtains at my height. I cleaned for three hours yesterday and everything went as well as to be expected." I shrugged. He looked a little disappointed.

"Well, it's good that you're okay, I don't know if you know but he's a killer if he doesn't get his way, we find someone hanging from the rafters. No mistake who did it." If this was any other time I'd say he was hitting on me.

"I'll keep that in mind." Was there a point to this conversation?

"I'm Blaise by the way, Blaise Dion."

"Danielle BellRose." I held my hand out and he kissed it. A handshake would have sufficed. At least he didn't kiss my cheek, I've always thought that was creepy. I mean, invading my personal space much? "Nice to meet you."

"You too. I hope we can become friends." As he turned away I could hear him whisper 'It's nice to have someone different here besides me.' No idea what was up with him. I had already cleaned out the Phantom's box with no added surprises that day so I decided to go down to the chapel and think. I didn't want to admit to myself that I wanted to talk to Erik again. I sat down in front of the photo of Gustav Daae.

"You look so much like Ramin. I wonder why; you were Swedish, I'd expect you to be blond haired and blue eyed. I guess Christine must me the spitting image of her mother." I clasped my hands together and lowered my head, praying that he heard me. "Don't worry Monsieur Daae, I'll make sure Christine stays safe."

"You believe Christine is in danger?" Erik asked me. I jumped a bit, not expecting to hear from him until after everyone was asleep.

"No, but in this day and age it's easy for her to get in trouble. Here she couldn't support herself if something were to happen and she got kicked out of the Opera. In my time everyone goes to school until they're eighteen at least and are equipped with knowledge about how to get a job without having to sell yourself." I shook my head "These time's are not good for my sex."

"I'm sorry I can't help you."

"Well, this time seems nice but I'm a 2011 girl. If I don't find a way home soon I'll be forever young." I lay on the floor with my arms out. I still couldn't figure out where Erik was hiding, unless the panel with the painted angel popped out. Or there could be a tunnel behind it.

"Danielle, are you down there?" Meg called to me as she came down the stairs.

"No, I'm a talking caterpillar." I got up and met her at the stairs. "What's going on? I thought you'd be rehearsing for a while."

"We were, now we are having a break for lunch. Come on, let's go up before all the good food is gone." I cast a glance over my shoulder before leaving the room, it was still empty and I had no idea where Erik was hiding. I smiled at the angel and walked up with Meg.

Lunch was great, I was happy I didn't have to cook for all these people; there must be over fifty of them, actors and dancers alone. I'm betting the stagehands ate at the table in the back. It was nice out here, but when I ate dinner in the kitchen the night before it felt really nice just being around people in the same situation that I was, minus the whole time traveling thing. We could laugh and tell dirty jokes and just be ourselves, here I felt stifled, like the real me was being suppressed.

"Where are you from Danielle, you skin is so dark?" One of the girls said, I'm sure she was in the chorus. I knew I couldn't tell them I was black, they'd only make it harder for me here. But I couldn't lie to them, not for the fact that it would make me dishonest but for the fact that it would make me feel like I was saying I was embarrassed of who I was. Well fuck it, I'll take racist comments before I let my ancestors down. I'm sorry, Grandpa. I almost let these people drag me through the muck of self loathing.

"I'm from America," I said. "My mother was African and my father was French. My mom was born and grew up in Virginia where she and my father met. They moved to a little town by the sea, where I was born." No lies there.

"Was your mother a slave?" Another girl asked. I closed my eyes, pretending to just blink as I thought of all the horrible things I could kill her with. No Danielle, she doesn't know any better, don't kill.

"No, my mother and her parents before her were free blacks, they chose to go to Virginia a long time ago." I'm sure my ancestors were slaves though, my great, great, great, great, great grandparents. They might be in America now, slaving away picking cotton. The thought made me sick. I looked around the table, daring anyone to say something against my ancestry.

"Oh my! It must be so interesting in America." Christine spoke up from beside me. She gave me a look that said she knew what I was thinking.

"Not really. Paris is so beautiful. I've never seen such a big city before!" Okay NOW I'm lying, maybe they'll lay off the racist shit if I pretend to be a country girl. The other dancers looked a bit smug, like they were exceptionally proud of being French born girls. What obnoxious people, suddenly I wasn't feeling bad for thinking they were all little Pepé Le Pew's. I missed cartoons.

"Have you been able to take a look around the city since you got here?" Another down the line asked.

"Oh, I only go here about three days ago so I didn't have much time to see the sights, other than the ones on the way to the Opera though. I'm looking forward to seeing Notre Dame." I smiled down at her. It seemed like there were going to be at least a few here who were really nice.

"I hear you're cleaner for the Phantom of the Opera's box, is it true?" All of the girls erupted in questions I couldn't avoid.

"Well, the long and short of it is that yes, I'm cleaning the Phantom's box and no nothing has happened. If something does I'll be sure to tell you." They all squealed in delight. "But I don't think it will because I've heard that he'll leave the cleaning lady alone if she does her work and doesn't meddle." The girls pouted and guys hollered. I laughed and tried to settle them down.

"What's it like inside of the box? No one's been in since the ghost scared a cleaning lady about sixteen years ago, and even then only the cleaning staff went in." A brown haired girl at the end said.

"Well when I walked in it looked like dirt and grime had a baby and left it there along with the afterbirth." Giggles and loud, manly laughs erupted from all around me and I felt a meaty hand slap me on the back. I looked up and saw one of the muscular male dancers wink at me as he passed. Well, seems I've passed the 'I'm human even though I'm black test'. Sweet. And I was being winked at my hot guys. Awesome.

"Was it really that bad?" Someone said through tears.

"No," I said. "It was worse. I was attacked by this crazy big spider and then the stupid curtains refused to be fully cleaned. I had to yell at them." Again everyone laughed. I finished my food and went to help wash the dishes in the kitchen. There were over twenty people cooking or cleaning constantly and the appreciated the help, knowing I didn't have to.

"Could you bring these refreshments to the stagehands please? I'm sure they're getting weary." One of the middle aged cooks asked me. I smiled at her.

"Sure." I grabbed the plate of rolls and jug of water and walked out. In the upper rigging of the stage and gave the rolls out and let the men take long drinks of water with the ladle in the jug. Gradually my load became lighter. I was walking on the regular level backstage and felt someone pinch my ass.

"Shit! What the hell?" I turned to see Blaise. "What the absolute hell were you doing?" Blaise held his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, sorry, I thought it'd be funny." He was laughing.

"What would be funny? If I tossed the biscuits down your shirt and dumped this water over your head? Because yeah, that would be funny." I mock advanced on him and he backed up.

"Mercy!" He called. I rolled my eyes and he took a biscuit.

"Still, why would you try that? That's so against the norm here." I know he knew what I meant.

"I don't know. I thought it'd be funny." He shrugged.

"Well you've got my brand of sick humor." I punched him on the shoulder and he grinned at me. "But if you pinch my ass again I'm gonna knock your pretty teeth out." I grinned back at him.

"Platonic date after work?" He asked. I raised my eyebrow.

"You read my mind. You're buying." I walked away before he could deny it.

ERIK

After Danielle had left I had decided to go back to my home and find a new song for her to learn as she already mastered Psyche. Maybe I'll teach her a song of my own. I looked over at the drawings I had made of my beautiful Christine and smiled. Last night I had begun to instruct her in the ways of singing Think of Me from Hannibal.

Christine had seen that play in the Opera Populaire a long time ago when her father was still alive. That was when he became friends with Madame Giry and Meg met Christine. I remember watching Gustav Daae's violin performance and feeling upset that someone who held such great talent died so early. As a young grieving Christine prayed I took pity on her and tried to comfort her and evidently becoming her Angel of Music. I had not realized it but as she grew older I fell in love with her and taught her to sing. One day she would be mine.

I pulled out the perfect aria for her, one from a play called Sappho. The song was sad and I was sure it would go beautifully with her voice. I checked the clock and decided to see how the rehearsal for Faust was going. I sat in my seat in Box five and watched the dancers, noting that all seemed to be moving as quickly as always before I decided to check behind the scenes to make sure everything was going smoothly. I used the shadows to my advantage and checked on the workers. They were working well enough for me not to fire them. I descended to the stage level when I heard a familiar voice talking to someone. It was Danielle and a stagehand and they were together and laughing at something. I moved through the shadows closer to try and make out the words they were saying.

"...Date after work?" I stood shocked as I heard her reply "You read my mind."

She was going to date this lowly stagehand? Anger filled me as I turned and followed her out of the room to keep from killing him. He wasn't good enough for my protege, the next time she was alone I would confront her on this act and get her to break the date. She would listen to her Angel. I followed her into the bedroom for the female dancers at the opera before I spoke.

"Danielle." She looked around.

"Angel?" She knew something was wrong by the sound of my voice, I tried to adopt a calmer tone.

"Danielle, are you thinking of going to dinner with this young stage hand?" Her eyebrows raised, as if she had not expected me to intervene with this blooming relationship. "I don't want you to be unfocused on your work and your lessons. This boy will cause trouble." I called down to her from behind the hidden panel that I could use to jump down in case I was being pursued in the tunnels. A smile graced her features.

"Angel, thank you for watching out for me but you don't need to worry, he's only a friend. It's a platonic date, there no feeling involved. I'm even getting him to pay for it." She grinned cheekily.

"It still unsettles me. Why would a young man ask for a date with a pretty young woman without the intention of marriage?" Or worse.

"Well, there is the intention of being friends. Don't worry, I'll be fine." She smiled. I still didn't want her to go, but I saw no way of preventing it without revealing myself.

"Alright but I want you to be careful, there have already been to many girls with their hearts broken by stage hands." I knew of no other warnings to give her.

"I will." She turned to leave the room and paused. "Don't worry, I'll make it to our music lesson tonight." And she was gone. It puzzled me how she never flinched when I raised my voice at her. I found myself wondering about the time she came from; where all girls like her? She acted like a man at times and hated wearing the bloomers Madame Giry had given her, leaving them peeking out from under her bed. At times though, she acted like a small child and giggling at the jokes made by the dim members of the kitchen staff. It was almost cute.

DANIELLE

I couldn't believe Erik had tried to keep me from hanging out with Blaise. Wait. That meant he was eavesdropping on our conversation and had seen him pinch my butt. That must have been why he was afraid Blaise was going to get all hungry like a wolf on me. I was upset that he didn't trust my judgement, but happy that he cared what happened to me. I giggled; he called me pretty.

"Hey, ready for or platonic night on the town?" Blaise came up to me after work.

"Standard dinner and a drink?" I asked. "With it on you of course." I waved goodbye to a few of the actors that didn't live in the opera and were going home.

"And I thought I was only paying for the drinks." I could hear the jingle of coins in his pocket as we walked down to one of the pubs farther down the street.

"I'm good for only drinks, it's been forever since I had the wonderful feeling of inebriation." I remembered my lesson with Erik tonight and made a note not to get too drunk. Only tipsy.

"I thought you were constantly drunk form the way you act." He nudged my with his hip and I nudged him back.

"Fuck you," I said flipping him the finger. He put one hand to his heart and the other to his head in a fake swoon.

"Never have I ever heard such language coming from a young lady." He quipped at me in a falsetto voice that could rival dragging fingernails on a chalkboard.

"Never have I ever heard such dramatics from the throat of a Queen!" I said, swooning back at him.

"Why are you calling me a queen, I'm no royalty." I snorted and laughed out loud. If only the Drag Queens of my time could hear him say that.

"Where I come from when we call a man a queen it means he's a homosexual or he dresses in women's clothes and acts like a woman." He opened his eyes wide and sputtered incoherently.

"Yeah, I went there." He went beet red and we walked into the pub.

After three hours of drinking and me teaching Blaise what whale song was we stumbled into the opera house and parted ways. While he walked to the men's dormitories I went to the bathroom, splashed water on my face and tried to sober up. My head was a little cloudy but I could manage. I popped a pill in my mouth and went down to the chapel.

"I'm surprised you managed to make it. I trust you enjoyed yourself." Erik was being sulky and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes.

"Yes I did have fun. Blaise is a good friend." I tried to put a subtle emphasis on the 'friend'.

"I think it best for you to go to bed," Erik said. Through the slight haze of alcohol I processed his words.

"Don't you want me here?" I couldn't keep the hurt out of my voice.

"Of course I do but I think that, in your current state you need to rest." Erik was always logical. Like Spock. I giggled, maybe I was a little drunker than I thought I was.

"You're right I'm so sleepy." I yawned and lay on the floor. I heard Erik call my name twice. I didn't respond, I just felt like lying there. Finally there came a sigh and I felt myself being lifted. I looked up to see a white porcelain mask. Erik was carrying me to bed. I snuggled against him, I could feel him stiffen.

"You're so warm Angel." Everything was a soft blur after that. All I remember was that Erik pulled the covers off my bed and tucked me in.

ERIK

She had fallen asleep on the chapel floor. I sighed and climbed out of my hiding place and picked her up, deciding to carry her to bed. She lifted her head and pulled herself close to me.

"You're so warm Angel." After that I'm sure she was asleep. I tucked her into bed and quickly left the room, thinking only of the content look on Danielle's face as I carried her to bed. I could feel a smile playing at my own lips.

Tender moments for all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and, as always, Review!

Danielle and Blaise belong to me and everyone else belong to themselves Leroux and Webber!