I do not own any of the characters from The Phantom of the Opera, although I do rather enjoy borrowing them from time to time.

A/N Hi all, just to answer a couple of questions, Erik will not be a pervert and go for a under age Christine, although she will develop a crush on him that will develop into a strong love. And yes, I will be skipping large amounts of time, in order to get this story moving. I have had a few emails asking me how to submit a review on the site, I believe that you must be logged in to be able to review. So at the end of the chapter as long as you are logged in, it should have a link that says do you want to leave a review, just click on it and it should take you to the review pages.

ToryD- Author

Beta – MJMod

Christine

Chapter 2

Eight months later

Christine sat on the small wooden chair sulkily as she awaited her father's impending arrival. Johnny Riley and Sam Gardner sat directly across from her, both holding ice packs to their identical blackened eyes. Christine's hand was throbbing something awful, but she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of letting them see her wimp out and ask for an ice pack. The door opened and Principal Reynolds motioned for Christine to enter. Grudgingly Christine got to her feet and went inside the office to face her forthcoming punishment.

"Have a seat Christine," George Reynolds said as he took his own seat behind his paper littered desk. "So, will you tell me what brought on this violence in my schoolyard?" he asked with a stern look that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Christine just shook her head as she stared at her feet.

George knew from the stubborn set of her small shoulders that she was not going to tell him that she had been defending her father's employer against the boys' incessant teasing. "I'm afraid that I have no choice but to suspend you from school for three days," He said with a heavy sigh.

"But the game is tomorrow," Christine said in a distressed tone.

"Yes, well I'm sure the team will miss you on the court," he told the newest star of the girl's basketball team.

"But Principal Reynolds, if we lose this game we won't be able to go for the state championship!" Christine cried out worriedly.

""I'm sorry Christine, but maybe you should have thought about the consequences before you entered into a brawl on the playground." George informed his young student.

Christine crossed her arms in front of her as she clamped her lips together tightly in anger. This isn't fair, she thought to herself as she began to realize the price she would have to pay for defending Erik.

At the soft knock on the door, George stood and crossed the room to open the shut door.

"Mr. Daae is here Sir," the school's secretary announced Charles arrival.

"Send him in Nancy," George instructed his assistant quietly.

As Charles entered the small office, he spared a disappointed glance at his rumpled daughter.

"Mr. Daae, I'm Principal Reynolds. I'm sorry to have to call you in today, but unfortunately I think that we need to have a discussion on Christine's behavior," George began as he shook Charles' hand.

Charles slipped into the empty chair beside his brooding daughter. "Yes, I agree," he said as he looked the younger man square in the eye.

"Mrs. Jones reported that she witnessed Christine throw the first punch. I've asked Christine what provoked her, but she refuse to answer," George informed Charles with a sigh.

Charles looked over at his bedraggled youngest. "Christine," he called to her softly. When she refused to meet his eyes, he called her name again, this time with a little more force. "Christine!"

Christine knew that she had to face the dire consequences that her actions of the day had wrought. "Yes, daddy," she said sadly as she raised her shame filled eyes to meet her father's disapproving gaze.

"I want you to tell me and Principal Reynolds why you hit those two boys," Charles ordered in a tone that would brook no further disobedience.

Christine felt that to repeat the words that Sam and Johnny had said would be paramount to a betrayal to her best friend. She didn't want anyone to ever hear the horrible things they had said about Erik. Jutting out her chin, she clamped her lips shut in defiant silence.

Charles, felt a flare of anger at his daughter rare show of disobedience. "Christine Michelle Daae! I demand that you tell me this instant what made you hit those two boys!" Charles said through his clenched teeth.

Knowing that a lie would only make her father angrier, Christine opted to keep her stony silence.

Seeing that he was not going to get anywhere with his wayward daughter, Charles turned his attention back to the school's principle. "Mr. Reynolds, I must apologize. I will assure you that Christine and I will further discuss this matter at home," Charles said with a slight tinge of red adorning his cheeks.

"Christine, if you would please give your father and I a moment alone?" George asked expectantly.

Without a single word, Christine rose and left the room.

"Mrs. Jones informed me that the two boys were saying some terrible things about your employer, Mr. Dexter," George said as he leaned back in his chair. "I presume that Mr. Dexter has a deformity of some sort?" he asked in a hesitant voice.

Enlightenment dawned upon Charles as he discovered the reason behind his daughter's uncharacteristic bout with violence. "Yes, he wears a mask over half of his face. Christine and Erik are very close, so I must assume that she was defending him," Charles said almost more to himself than to the man who sat opposite him.

"Children can be quite cruel I'm afraid," George said sadly. "But regardless of the reason, the school has a zero tolerance for violence of any sort, so I'm afraid that Christine will have to be suspended for three days."

Charles knew that his daughter had a very important game coming up in two days, "She was to play in the district finals on Thursday," Charles said with a resigned sigh.

"I know, with Christine on the team we were hoping to go to the state championships this year. But I'm afraid that the policy is quite clear, she may not attend classes or any school related function while she serves out her suspension," George said with a great heaving sigh. As he was so hopeful to have one state championship team in his tenure at Madison Middle School, and with the arrival of Christine at their door, the impossible dream was almost within reach.

Shaking his head, Charles knew that this was more of a punishment than he could ever administer. "I'm sorry she let her team and school down," Charles said as he got to his feet.

George offered the older man a slight smile. "Well we still have softball season," he said with a gleam in his eye.

Charles laughed at the thought of his daughter's passion for the sport. "Yes, there is that," holding out his hand he once again shook Principal Reynolds' hand. "Thank you for you time,"

"Not at all," George said as he opened the door.

Christine looked up as her father approached her seated form.

"Let's go home," he said as he put his arm about her slim shoulders.

Christine rose and fell into step beside her father, wondering at the strange look of pride in his eyes.

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Erik stood staring out his second floor study as Christine trimmed the hedges below. "Don't you think she's been punished enough?" he questioned Marie in an irritated tone.

Smiling to herself, she knew that Erik was missing his video game playmate on this third day of Christine's suspension. "It is not my place to judge," Marie responded diplomatically.

Erik frowned at his housekeeper's neutral comment as he watched Christine bend down to bag her freshly cut trimmings. "Well, I think that she has been punished enough," Erik said with strong conviction. As Christine looked up at his window, he saw her give a sad little wave in greeting. Lifting his hand, he answered her wave with a sadness of his own.

"Erik, Charles has thought of an appropriate punishment for her. You must stay out of it. It is not our place to get involved in their father daughter relationship," Marie informed him with a firm tone.

Not able to bear the sight of little Christine in the throws of hard labor, Erik turned and took a seat behind his desk. After a few minutes of brooding silence, he voiced his opinion once again. "Marie, you could talk to Charles, he respects your opinion," he began in a persuasive tone.

Marie gave Erik a look of censure as he began to ask for his assistance.

"You know that Christine is a good kid, she didn't mean to hurt anybody," he said with a pleading look that nearly undid Marie's resolve to remain neutral.

"Erik, I agree that Christine is normally a very well behaved young lady. But she did hit two of her fellow students," Marie reminded her boss of the seriousness of Christine's actions.

Slumping back in his chair, Erik realized that he was beating his head against a brick wall. "Fine, I will speak to Charles myself then," he said as he planned his next course of action in his free Christine crusade. "Tell Charles that I need to go into the office in fifteen minutes," Erik said as his quick mind began to calculate the perfect strategy in which to obtain a fatherly pardon for his little friend.

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Charles hid his amusement at his boss' attempt to free his youngest daughter from her indentured servitude. "Yes, she normally is a well behaved girl," he said in agreement to Erik's prior comment.

"And, she has been so helpful to me in my work over the last several months. She has really made herself invaluable to me," Erik said as he watched Charles from his position in the passenger seat of the elegant town car.

"Yes, she does seem to be enjoying helping you test out your latest games," Charles responded as he turned into the garage that housed Erik's headquarters. "Would you like me to wait for you here Erik?" he questioned as he resumed his role of employee.

Erik silently cursed the short ride to his office, for he hadn't yet achieved his goal of the hour. "Ah, no…please if you could wait ten minutes, I just need to get something out of my office," Erik lied as he opened his door to exit the car.

Charles smiled knowingly to himself as he watched his agitated boss walk towards the garage elevators. Reaching for his cell phone, he dialed the number to connect him with Marie. "Hello Marie, how much longer do you think I should make him suffer?" he said with a slight chuckle.

Marie sighed into the phone as she mentally pictured her young boss as he attempted to free his little friend from her prison sentence. "Oh, I'd say at least until you are halfway home," Marie offered her opinion freely.

"I have to say that he really cares for her to go to this much trouble," Charles said with a bemused look on his weathered face.

Marie walked over to the kitchen window to look out at the garage, where Christine was waxing the large black SUV. "Yes, they have become fast friends over the last eight months," Marie said thoughtfully. "It's almost if they share some type of unspoken bond," she said more to herself than to the man on the other end of the line.

Charles leaned back in his driver's seat and began to ponder Marie's perceptive comment, for there was an undeniable truth in those profound words. There did appear to be some unspoken bond between Erik and Christine, as though they both shared the same sense of innate loneliness and sadness, which seemed to dissipate only when in each other's company. As he came to realize just how lonely a life his little girl had led, he felt a deep sense of guilt envelop him all around. Christine was only three when her mother died, so she had never had that bond of a mother and child. Ashlynn whom he loved as only a father could, had little time to spare for her tomboy little sister. And then there was he himself, a father who had packed up his family and moved from job to job, allowing for little chance of enduring friendships that were so important to childhood. So in Erik, Christine had found the one person she could count on, and in doing so she had choose to defend him against anyone who would dare speak ill of him. He felt a fatherly pride swell within him at the loyalty his daughter had shown. "Yep, Erik, I think she has been punished enough," he said to himself as he allowed himself an amused smile.

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As soon as the car pulled to a stop besides the shinny black SUV, Erik hoped out and called to Christine. "Christine, I have the new prototype for Avenging Marauders Revenge!"

With a half smile, Christine attempted to look happy for Erik. "Great, you'll have to tell me how it played out at dinner," She said as she squirted a spray of Windex upon the side passenger window.

Charles exited the car and crossed to his daughter's side. "Christine, I think that you have learned your lesson, so you can go and help Erik with his new game," he said as he watched the happiness erupt on his daughter's face.

"Really!" Christine cried out as she hugged her father tightly.

"Yes, really. Now go before I change my mind," he said to her joy filled face.

"Erik, Daddy said I can play the game with you," she said as she rushed to his side.

"Did he now?" Erik said in a teasing tone he reserved just for her.

"Yes he did, so prepare for annihilation, Dexter!" she said as she threw down her imaginary gauntlet.

"You forget, Daae, that I am the master of the entire universe, and it will be I who will annihilate you!" Erik responded with a toxic threat of his own.

"Care to make it interesting, Dexter?" Christine said with an impish smile on her lips.

Erik gave her a shrewd look as he considered her proposition. "It will be like taking candy from a baby, name your price," he said with a mischievous look in his green eyes.

Christine looked up at him with a calculating expression. "All right, if I win you have to promise to come to one of my games," she said with a triumphant look, as she had yet to persuade him out in public.

Erik frowned at the thought of all the stares he would receive if he conceded to her request. Pushing the dark thought away, he contemplated the chances she had at winning and dismissed the threat. "Ok, and if I win, which I will," Erik said in a confident tone. "You, Ms. Daae, will have to spend the entire weekend watching all six Star Wars movies back to back dressed as Chewbacca," Erik finished as a wide smile spread across his half-masked face as he anticipated the fun he would have at her expense.

Christine weighed her options, and she thought that even though he had the advantage of the workings of the game, she had the faster reflexes. "You're on," she said with a smug look on her face. "Just one condition," she said as she turned and began to walk towards the house.

Frowning, Erik fell into step beside her. "What condition?" he asked as he shortened his stride to match her smaller ones.

"We play three practice games first, then we take the best of seven." She said with a smirk.

Wanting nothing more than to have that smirking face replaced with the furry hood of a Chewbacca costume, Erik acquiesced. "Fine, shall we shake on it?"

Holding out her hand, Christine felt a strange tingling sensation as Erik took hers in a sealing of their bet. Her heart began to beat a little faster as she held his hand. Shaking herself, she once again set off towards the house. "Coming, Dexter?" she called over her shoulder as she opened the door.

"I'm coming," he replied in a bored tone. "You might want to start practicing your Chewy growls, I expect to get the full effect," he said teasingly which earned him a cool stare from Christine's clear blue eyes.

Christine refrained from comment, deciding to let her superior game play speak for her.

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Two months later

Erik sat on the highest bleacher in an attempt to remain unseen as he watched Christine strike out the batter at the plate. Who would have thought that he would be at a fourteen years old's baseball game, he thought to himself in amusement. Who would have thought a lot of things before Christine and her family moved in with him? Life was sure getting interesting. Allowing himself a smile, he marveled at how much his life had changed. Christine had brought about so much joy and happiness in his life. He simply couldn't imagine his life without her. As he watched the umpire call the last strike, he thanked the powers that be that had been so kind as to bring Christine into his life.