A/N: Filler chapter

Chapter 48- It's a New Dawn

Christine sat alone in the darkness behind the stage. She could hear the rehearsals continuing on without her, she heard people moving, people singing, the orchestra tuning... her mind was torn in places she did not even realise existed. The whole affair had not only hurt her relationship with Raoul but had damaged her reputation with the rest of the cast.

She had been rehearsing with them on ten minutes earlier but the others looked at her with such disdain that she could no longer take anymore. It was nice to be alone for a while, Raoul had barely left her side in just over a week, she felt like she could hardly breath. She wondered if he followed her because he was afraid she might leave or that he was simply worried for her safety.

Over the last few months she had grown tired of telling Raoul that Erik would never hurt her. The whole thing was getting beyond repetitive. She understood that he loved her and that his natural instinct was to protect her but what he could not understand was that it wasn't her that needed protecting.

It was him.

As she looked around she caught a glimpse of Raoul deep in conversation with one of the managers. She watched as his hands moved, animating the subject, as he spoke rapidly. Gilles Andre was nodding, seemingly in agreement, but it was Raoul's intensity that got her attention. He looked so serious, so earnest.

She loved him.

When he looked over he waved his hand and began to make his way to her. Automatically, she straightened her back, smoothed her dress and took a deep breath. Things had been a little strange between them recently and she wanted it to end, wanted things to be back to the way they were before.

He leant down and cheekily kissed her cheek. 'There's no one looking,'

She smiled at him.

'How are you this morning?' he asked.

'I'm fine,'

'You look terribly pale,'

'Tired,' she forced a smile.

He took her hand. 'I'm not surprised,'

They stared at each other for a long moment, watching, waiting but for what, she did not know. The softness in his eyes almost broke her heart, she felt as though, by letting her mind drift to Erik, she was betraying him. Raoul was probably the best man she had ever known, the most noble and honest, the most beautiful and she did not want to hurt him.

She knew that Raoul would hate the thought but Erik was part of her life. She might not be his friend any longer but he had been her mentor and he would always be a part of her. The knowledge that she had needed to let him go was hard, she had thrown him out in fury. She could never forgive him for what he had done to her father.

It was not as though she thought Erik had murdered him but he had more than a partial role in his death. Erik had given Gabriele the funding to do his bidding, Gabriele had leant this money to her father- a man they knew had little or no chance of paying it back, who was already ill- and her father
had passed away before the debt had been repaid.

Christine knew how it worked. Gabriele Aiton would have taken the monetary repayments, a profit to him as it was not his money he leant out, and then Erik would have taken the home. It was a scam, of course, Gabriele prayed on the weak, but she was sure there was a legal loophole. What was not legal was what they did to the people who did not pay.

She had gone out of her way over the past six months to learn all she could about so called 'loan sharks' and she had found that they often beat people, sometimes killed them, in order to obtain their assets. She had no doubt that this was what Gabriele did.

Possibly, what Erik did too.

'Come,' Raoul said, breaking into her thoughts. 'Let me get you some lunch,'

She nodded.

'Smile for me, Christine,' His voice was soft and welcoming, pleading with her to be the person he knew so well. She wanted to be that person for him, she wanted to be young Christine Daae without a care in the world. She just wasn't sure that she could.

She stood. 'Alright,'

When her smile spread over her lips, it was genuine, she made herself think his strong arms, his playfulness, her scarf in the sea...

He took her arm. 'We will find Mrs Leroux, she is around somewhere,'

'We wouldn't want you taking advantage,' she smiled.

He laughed. 'No,' he said. 'Quite right,'

They walked along the back of the stage and then out through the side door into the corridor. Meg was kneeling down, adjusting her shoes, she looked up and smiled at them.

'Are you alright?' she asked, her eyes on Christine.

'I'm fine,'

'Don't mind them, you know,' Meg continued. 'They are only jealous of you,'

Christine nodded. 'I do love you, Meg,'

'And so you should,'

'I'll see you later,'

Meg nodded.

Christine and Raoul moved away, following the corridor to the back door.

'What was all that?' he asked, when they got outside into the fresh air, away from anyone who might overhear.

'What?'

'I mean with Meg,' he replied. 'Why was she saying that?'

'Oh it's nothing,' she brushed the question aside and started to stride forward.

'Christine,' Raoul caught her up. 'Tell me,'

'Some of the cast members are being a little mean to me, that's all, they are just worried,'

Raoul stopped walking and frowned. 'We can't have that!'

'Raoul...'

'I won't allow them to treat you that way,'

'This is exactly the problem,'

Raoul's face twisted into a confused frown.

'They think I am being favoured and if you run in there telling them to leave me alone then it will all be confirmed and things will be worse for me,'

He did not move, instead his eyes implored her, he was looking at her so hard she backed away from him.

'I don't ever want to make anything worse for you,' he said softly, eyes softening to anguish.

'Oh, Raoul...'

'I'm sorry,'

She sighed, taking his hand in hers. 'This is not your fault,'

He shook his head. 'I'm sorry,'

'Please, let us get lunch and stop this,' she said, squeezing his fingertips gently. 'It's nonsense and they will all get over it. Rehearsals are going well, we shall be quite ready for Saturday and then we'll see what happens,'

'Of course,' He took a breath. 'The plan will go our way and then no one will have to worry, we can all get back to normality,'

Christine nodded but felt a jolt in her heart. If the plan works then Erik will be captured and almost certainly sentence to death.

Could she live with herself if she was the one who condemned Erik, once her angel, to death?

Antoinette smiled at the maid as she placed the dishes in the centre of the dining room table. Meg sat to her left, Laurent to her right and Scott was opposite her. Scott said grace, thanking God that they had everything they needed and each other, and then he stood and began to hand the dishes around.

Things had been a little strange since her conversation with Laurent about Erik. Antoinette was angry with Erik, angry that he could take advantage of people in such desperate positions. It was strange but the people he killed, whether right or wrong, could at least defend themselves. These people this company targeted were poor, often ill, usually desperate. The rate of the loan was always ridiculously high and the money, one way or another, had to be paid back.

Apparently, the company made a tidy profit.

The reason for Laurent's beating was that he was going to inform Erik that the company were turning in on him. They intended to take him out, kill him if necessary. Laurent had insisted to her that Erik knew very little about the company's actual dealings or the details of them, instead he simply put money in and made his return. It was rare for Erik to involve himself with the collection or even with the company meetings.

Laurent had also stumbled on the fact that Gabriele was spending profits on his gambling habit and that the company and it's members, basically had nothing left. The plan was to take Erik's wealth which they were sure he had plenty of.

'Pass the potato, please,' Meg reached her arm across the table and took the bowl from her uncle, who smiled warmly. His injuries were basically healed now and though she would never forgive him she had found a way to live with him. The bridges were coming back together, albeit slowly.

Laurent took the gravy bowl and poured some onto his plate. 'When does this new show open then?'

'Saturday night,'

'They certainly like to put a rush on things there,' Scott said.

Laurent nodded. 'A little soon isn't it?'

'Not really,' Antoinette answered. 'We have a good, strong cast, hard work and an excellent director,'

'Well, I hope it will be a success, as many of the others have,' Scott raised his glass. 'To Antoinette's final show at the Opera Populaire,'

Meg and Laurent raised their glasses and, reluctantly, Antoinette followed,they clinked them, laughed and joked but her heart felt heavy. When the run of Don Juan was complete she planned to hand in her notice as ballet mistress. She knew that it was time, she could no longer protect Erik and she was getting tired, her hip was getting worse with age.

'I have tickets for you both for opening night,' Antoinette said. 'You can come and see the performance, see Meg at her very best,'

She smiled affectionately at her daughter feeling her heart swell with pride.

'You make me sound much better than I am,' Meg smiled then looked at Laurent. 'Don't get your hopes up,'

'Oh, but I will,' Laurent grinned. 'So you will just have to prove your mother right,'

'You put too much pressure on me, Uncle Laurent,'

'Who says you can't handle it?'

She giggled. 'I suppose we will just have to wait and see,'

'Why Meg, you're blushing,'

'It's your fault! You and mother,'

Laurent's smile was warm and genuine. 'You bring it on yourself, Meg, you shouldn't be so good at what you do if you don't want the adulation. I think, someday, you will be very famous,'

'Hush,' Meg's cheeks glowed red and Antoinette found herself laughing.

Scott had fallen strangely silent during this exchange and Antoinette sought to catch his attention. He looked distant and when his eyes met hers he smiled, tipping his glass slightly. He too, looked sad and she couldn't help but wonder why.