A/N: Thank you for the reviews, they are much appreciated, as always. Long chapter and probably not as long as it needed to be

'And in this world of loneliness I see your face,' –'Bleeding Love' Leona Lewis.

Chapter 61- Bleeding Love

Christine could barely catch her breath as she gripped Raoul's hand in their ascent through the nearby woodland. When they had almost reached the pinnacle she felt a hard tug on her hand, which brought her to a sudden stop. She turned and looked at Raoul only to find that he was standing shaking his head.

'We need to go,' she said, feeling the inclination to escape but fighting the feeling that she should remain and wait for Erik. It was a feeling that tore her inside but she had made a deal, made a promise, and she was not prepared to betray Erik's trust again.

Raoul shook his head again and turned around, so that he was facing the farm with his back to Christine. After a deep sigh and a long pause, he said, 'Something is wrong,'

Christine allowed her eyes to drift out onto the farm, now soaked in the splendid morning sun with only the smell of drying grass hinting that there had been a storm the night before. When she saw nothing out of the ordinary, she turned back to Raoul. 'What is it?'

Raoul took a step back in the direction they had just come and then he hesitated, staring out again. 'I don't know, I heard something,'

The farm looked so peaceful that it was hard to believe that down in the barn there was something dreadful happening, it was difficult to comprehend that less than a hour ago both she and Raoul were tied up and being subjected to varying amounts of brutality.

Shameless violence.

'What did you hear?' she asked, feeling her heart pound in her chest. She knew that Raoul had been reluctant to leave, she knew that he wanted revenge for what Gabriele and his thugs had done to them… to her…

'I don't know…' his voice was quiet, so much so that she stepped closer to him so that she could hear him properly. 'Something out of place,'

'I didn't hear anything,' Christine admitted, though she knew that this alone did not mean that the sound had not occurred. After all, she could barely hear anything over the resonance of her pulse beating in her eardrums.

A frown crossed Raoul's face. 'Like a snap,'

'A snap?' she asked.

He nodded his head. 'Almost like stepping on a twig,' he clicked his fingers for emphasis.

'I didn't hear it,' she repeated, an eagerness to escape suddenly taking her over.

Raoul obviously could not sense her discomfort and took another step back the way they had come, 'Something isn't right,'

His eyes scanned the farm and then his head lifted and he looked out at the horizon, Christine did not know if Raoul knew what he was looking for but her nervousness increased with every second she stood on the hill.

'Why did he tell us to leave?' Raoul asked, finally turning to face Christine.

She shrugged her shoulders, only knowing what Erik had told her but never really knowing his intentions. 'He wanted to make sure we were safe,'

Raoul shook his head. 'He wanted to make sure that you were safe,'

His eyes made their way back down to the farm as Christine said, 'Either way…'

'But he was there,' Raoul's frown deepened, as if he could see something far away, that Christine had no chance spotting.

'I don't understand…'

'If he was there, he would have known you were safe, surely?' Raoul said, logically.

'He wanted to make sure,'

'Why?'

'I don…'

'Why?' Raoul was shaking his head as he took yet another step back down the hill. He was nearly out of the woodland now and the sun was catching the toes on his boots. 'Christine…'

She looked up at him, suddenly hearing the urgency in his tone, as he began to run down the hill. She followed running behind him. 'What are you doing?'

He turned to her. 'Stay there!'

'Where are you going?'

He was breathing hard, still pale and weak yet he somehow found the energy to run. 'He knew you were still in danger Christine!'

'I…'

'Where are the guards?!' He stopped and ran his hand over his face.

She looked around her. 'I don't know,'

'They're not here,' Raoul said. 'They're inside, with Gabriele… Jesus… he's committing bloody suicide sending us away…'

And then, like a bolt of lightening, it hit her, almost knocking her off her feet. 'He sent me away because he knew the guards were armed,'

Raoul nodded. 'And he knew they were going to go back in after a while, he knew they would find him there,'

'And kill all of us,'

Raoul began to run again and Christine stood, motionless, watching after him. As he ran towards the farm he lifted a piece of wood and disappeared from her view. She wanted to chase after him but suddenly all of her fight was gone and she felt nothing but cold despair.

Erik had essentially sacrificed himself so that she would be safe and happy, now the man she had fought for was doing the same.

In the end, as hot tears streamed down her cheeks, she wondered if either of the men she cared for, would make it out alive.

Gabriele had made sure that he had kicked Erik's sword, and any other potential weapons, well out of the phantom's way. Erik was looking up at him and as he did he noted that an air of inevitability now surrounded them all.

On his way into the building he had seen all of the guards dotted around the area, keeping their eye on most of the entrances. He had seen their weapons and it had dawned on him that only two people could make it out without being seen.

Three was too much danger and Erik knew that unless it was Christine and Raoul that escaped, Christine would never be able to find happiness again. She was not meant to be with Erik, she wanted to be with Raoul. The realisation had been hard to take, it hurt him to even picture her face in his mind… it hurt him more to imagine her smiling at the young De Chagny.

He knew what he was doing was right… for the first time he was doing what was truly right for her… for Christine, for his love.

Christine had taken some convincing but Erik had always been good at talking her around to his persuasion and in the end she had agreed to leave with Raoul.

It was to his heartbreak that he would never see her beautiful face again, or hear the angelic sound of her singing to one of his soft melodies or listen to the way her voice sounded when she laughed as if she had no cares in the world. The glorious yet simple faintness of her touch when she reached for him, the smell of her apple blossom hair as she moved away, the gentle smile that she, he hoped, reserved only for him…

All of which were gone to him now.

In return for her agreement to leave he had promised to contact her once more as soon as he escaped, so that she knew he was alive and well.

It was the first and only promise that Erik ever intended to break.

'I should slice your heart out,' Gabriele spat, holding his sword out towards Erik.

Erik didn't respond, he simply looked back up and stared the younger man dead in the eye.

'I would… well, if I thought you had one, anyway,' Gabriele laughed and shook his head. 'I can't believe you let her leave with that sap, you would be long gone by now if you had left him with me,'

Still, Erik kept his silence.

'I'm trying to figure you out,' Gabriele said, as he turned the sword in his hand. 'Help me here… why would you let them leave together?' He sighed. 'Why?' his smile was brief. 'There are only two things I can think of, only two reasons, a person would do that,'

Erik looked away.

'Number one,' Gabriele continued, as if he had not even noticed the sheer and unadulterated contempt in Erik's blue eyes. 'You hate me so much that you wanted them both gone so that you could kill me… in any way you wanted,'

Erik said nothing.

'Number two,' Gabriele said. 'You really love her that much… that you would forgo your own happiness so that she could have hers,'

The other members of the company were standing near to where they had entered, by the back door, they hadn't moved much and seemed to be enjoying Gabriele's little speech.

At least someone was.

'Now,' Gabriele smiled. 'I don't think you have that amount of love if you, Erik, because you and I are very alike,' Erik glared back up at the younger man but Gabriele's smile only widened. 'You've done exactly what I would have done… you hate me that much, I should be flattered.'

Erik smiled. 'I'll kill you,'

Gabriele's laugh was loud and brash. 'Obviously, you don't quite yet fully understand the predicament you're now in,'

'I understand, perfectly,' Erik said. 'But before this is over… I will kill you,'

'This is over now,' Gabriele grunted, as he raised his sword above his head. Erik wondered which way he should roll to get out of the way. It was a split second decision, a matter of life or death, and if he guessed wrong, he would most certainly die at Gabriele's vicious hand.

Gabriele's sword came down and Erik rolled quickly to the left with his eyes briefly closed. The sound of metal on stone assured him that he had chosen the right direction and Gabriele's sword had felt nothing but rock.

When he opened his eyes he saw Gabriele shaking his head and raising his sword again. There was only one way for Erik to roll this time and Erik knew that Gabriele had that angle completely covered. As the sword came up a loud clanking noise shattered the tense silence and Gabriele turned around to face the guards.

Erik looked up and saw that Raoul de Chagny was standing over Benjamin with a large piece of wood. The clanking noise, as it turned out, was the shotgun clattering to the ground and then under a pile of straw.

One of the other guards apprehended Raoul quickly and threw him to the ground but Benjamin remained in the floor, a small pool of blood forming around his skull.

'You are full of surprises,' Gabriele said.

Erik shook his head at Raoul, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

'So neither of you get the girl,' Gabriele smiled.

'Wrong,' Erik said, as his feet twisted around Gabriele's ankles sending him falling to the ground. Erik leapt onto his back and pushed Gabriele's face into the floor.

The sound of the pistol going off again was enough to turn Erik's attention. This time, the guard had not risked shooting towards Erik but had instead fired a warning into the air and was quickly reloading his weapon.

Erik balled his hand into a tight fist and brought it down hard onto the back of Gabriele's head, sending his face, brutally, into the floor. Gabriele's nose immediately burst open with blood and Erik hit again, with more force, making the younger man's head jerk up and down.

The guard with the pistol shouted. 'Stop! I'll shoot,'

Erik knew that the guard wasn't going to chance hitting his boss by firing at Erik and so, when he did look up, he wasn't at all surprised to find that the man was pointing the gun towards Raoul's chest.

'Do you think I care what you do to him?' Erik snarled, taking another swipe at Gabriele's head and connecting hard. The young man groaned but didn't try to fight him off anymore.

'Yes,' the guard said. 'Gabriele's wrong,'

Erik looked over at him, the pistol was still aimed outright, still pointed at Raoul's chest. 'Wrong?'

'About your reasons for letting them go,' the guard shrugged his broad shoulders. 'It's number two, you do love her that much,'

Erik sat still for a moment, and then he sighed, rolling himself off Gabriele and pushing himself to his feet. 'Let him go,'

'Can't,' the guard said. 'We've got to deal with both of you now,'

'You would do this for him?' Erik nodded his head at Gabriele who was beginning to get his bearings back.

'He pays me,'

'With what?' Erik laughed but as he was about to explain that Gabriele had spent all of the money the guard was hoping to be paid, he felt a hard punch in his side that crumpled him to his knees.

Gabriele's nose was dripping blood as he took another swing at Erik, catching him in the jaw and making him fall to the side. As Gabriele reached for his sword the side door, to the right of the guards burst open and, in a blur, the guard with the gun was pulled the floor by what looked like a black mist. As the commotion settled and the second guard ran over to help his friend, Erik realised that the black mist was Laurent, and Raoul was suddenly back on his feet pushing the other guard to the ground.

Erik watched as Laurent's fist lifted and smashed into the guards nose and again as he threw him to one side and pulled himself to his feet, holding his arm.

Raoul and Laurent secured the two guards as Gabriele dropped his sword and began to run towards the door. Laurent was too occupied to stop him and Gabriele past him with ease but Erik wasn't finished yet, not by a long way.

He leapt to his feet and ran after the younger man, jumping at him and wrestling him back to the ground. On the floor they traded punches until Erik could no longer work out what blood belonged to who. He flipped Gabriele over and punched him in the jaw, pinning him down.

'You two,' he shouted at Laurent a Raoul. 'Get out of here,'

Laurent looked at Raoul and they both stood still. Erik was not in the mood.

'Find Christine and go,'

Raoul did not need to be told more than twice. He whispered something to Laurent and with a nod of his head Laurent said goodbye and followed Raoul out of the building.

When he could no longer hear their footsteps outside, he looked down at Gabriele and said, 'Just the two of us, a little fairer, I think,'

He got up and let Gabriele stagger to his feet.

It was when he saw Gabriele smiling that he knew something had gone wrong.

'Not the two of us,'

Erik spun around to face the front door, where Christine was standing, open mouthed, staring at them both.

'Christine,' Erik managed to say before he turned to see Gabriele raising his gun, not at him, but at Christine.

The younger man took a step closer as Erik lifted his sword from the floor and began to run at him. He could hear Christine's voice but not her words, it spurred him to run and run, Gabriele pulled the trigger as Erik managed to get into front of him and lunge forward, towards him, the point of his sword outstretched as he did.

His weight pushed him on as he felt the sword pierce Gabriele's flesh and skim a rib as it found its way to the younger man's heart. The full force of Erik's dive sent the sword through and his momentum carried it forward, so that Erik ended lying on top of Gabriele, still grasping his sword and breathing hard. When he looked down, Gabriele's eyes were open and lifeless, Erik's aim had been good.

It wasn't until he heard Christine's screams that he felt the pain in his own body and warmth in his midsection. He rolled to his back and stared down at his body, at the blood pouring from the wound that was straight through the middle of his body.

He wanted to tell Christine that she should go now, that she was safe but the words simply would not come, and as a coldness settled around his hands, he found he no longer had the energy to keep his eyes open and they closed… just as Christine's beautiful face came into view.