Author's Note: Okay, so it's been a while. But, as promised, here is the next chapter. I will continue this story, it has not gone to the Pit-of-No-Return that has been the fate of many a good story. When I make a promise I stick to it. Now, without further adue....Chapter 11.

_____________________________________

Chapter 11 – Carlotta's Scheme

Carlotta sneered in triumph when her latest prey appeared around the corner. She began to move in and then stopped, dead in her tracks, when the infamous Phantom of the Opera appeared at his side. She cursed and turned in the opposite direction to devise a new plan.

The Prima Dona had been stalking Nicolas Leroux for the past couple of days now and hadn't been able to catch the man alone. She was almost paranoid enough to think that the Opera Ghost was purposely flanking Leroux just to deter her advances. But Carlotta was very persistent when it came to snagging potential lovers. Nicolas Leroux would be a wonderful addition to her collection. Leroux could be her permanent ticket off the streets. She would not let this opportunity pass her by.

She decided her best chance to get him alone would be the Benefactor's Ball in two day's time. The Opera Populaire was having it to bring in more money for the plays. Leroux wasn't that rich, he needed more finances to make the Opera House prosper. He couldn't rely on his old family money forever.

The red-head stood in front of her full-length mirror trying to decide which of her many ornate dresses Leroux would like best. In the end, she chose a dark pink dress that showed off her ample bosom. A truly conniving smile spread across her face.

Nicolas Leroux, you are mine…

XXX

Christine smiled at him and caressed the uncovered side of his cheek.

"Erik…"

"Christine…"

They were lying in his swan bed and both were completely unclothed. Erik ran his hand over a breast and smiled when his lover moaned in response. They began to kiss…but were soon interrupted.

"Erik! You promised to teach me the organ!"

Erik looked over his shoulder to find an annoyed Nicole glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

He sighed, "I am sorry, Nicole. Would you like for me to amend the problem now?"

Nicole smiled, instantly pacified. "That would be wonderful."

Erik's heart warmed and he completely forgot the woman in his bed along with the fact that he was naked.

He got up and strode over to Nicole. He wrapped his arms around her, loving the way her body felt against his. He was her protector, her friend, her…lover. His cock gave an interested twitch at that last thought.

They pulled away from one another and Nicole wrinkled her nose. "Erik, that mask doesn't look right on you…"

Erik smiled and said teasingly, "You think so?" She nodded with an answering smile. Erik lifted a hand and pulled away the mask, exposing the deformed side of his face.

Erik seemed to take over his dream-self and tensed when he realized what he had just done. He waited for Nicole's beautiful smile to dissipate and her mouth to open in terror…like Christine's…

But Nicole's smile widened and she rose on her toes to kiss his deformity. "There! You look much better now!"

She took his hand and began walking through his lair to his organ. Erik sat at the bench and Nicole slid onto it next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Play me something?"

Erik wordlessly obliged and began to play a beautiful melody, one the real Erik couldn't ever remember hearing or seeing. It was if his dream-self had come up with it alone. It was very soothing and pleasant, not like the tortured tunes he had a tendency to concoct when he when he was in a "mood."

Both of the Opera Populaire managers sighed in contentment as they found peace in the beautiful music.

Erik's eyes snapped open and he leapt from his bed and raced over to his table to find ink, quill, and parchment. He began copying the noted he had played in his dream.

"Erik!"

Erik froze in his musings. Nicole was coming through the tunnel.

"Open the gate! We need to crack a bottle of champagne and mull over all the ways this banquet can go to Hell!"

Erik raced back to his bedroom and grabbed his mask. He looked at it for a moment before placing it on his face. Despite the dream's assurances that Nicole would react calmly towards his deformity, Erik knew the real Nicole could feel nothing but disgust for it.

Erik watched with golden eyes as Nicole swirled the champagne around in her glass. She had a content expression on her face. It was then that he decided to play the song he had just learned for her. He got up and strode over to the organ. He felt her standing behind him and he started playing. The soft melody floated through the lair. Erik let himself be taken over by it. It was more beautiful than he remembered…The music didn't even falter when Erik felt arms encircle his shoulders. Warm breath played across his neck and Erik closed his eyes giving over to the remarkable feelings of bliss…Until the hand moved to his mask.

Erik immediately stopped playing and leapt from his seat, spinning around to grab Nicole's neck. "You think to expose me?" Erik snarled.

Nicole's eyes were slightly glazed and she seemed to have trouble focusing on his face. "You are…really…mag…magnan…magnanimous…no…magnificent-looking when angrish…angry…" She gave him a lopsided grin.

His eyes narrowed, "You're drunk."

"Yep!" She giggled.

Erik released her neck in slight astonishment. A wave of guilt washed over him and he took her by the hand and led her over to his couch. Nicole plopped herself on its surface and with a yawn, lay down. Erik grabbed a blanket and dropped it over her form. Nicole smiled sleepily and a hand curled over the material.

He leaned against the stone wall, eyes locked on her form. Erik's interactions with his fellow man had been limited at best. The only human he had ever been emotionally unguarded with was Mm. Giry. But that was starting to change. Nicole was now slowly moving up from the title "Business Partner" to "Friend." And for the first time since Christine, he felt the stirrings of want, want for something more, something closer. He didn't feel as if he could ever live again, not after what Christine had done, but perhaps he could have some kind of close relationship with Nicole. Someday.

XXX

People laughing and chatting, champagne glasses drinking, garments swishing. Everyone was enjoying themselves at the Benefactor's Ball. Even Carlotta was having a good time, being surrounded by handsome gentlemen callers. But the two most important people of the night had yet to show up, the managers of the Opera Populaire. Erik and Nicolas Leroux were due to arrive any minute now. Many heads occasionally turned in the direction of the main doors, anticipating the duo's arrival.

Erik fixed Nicole's tie behind the closed double doors. Nicole was naturally able to fit into large crowds and get along with all different types of people. But Erik was still prone to bouts of anxiety when too much attention was focused on him. He was glad Nicole would be by his side.

Nicole slapped his hands away, "Stop! That's too tight!"

"Sorry," Erik muttered and turned to glare at the double doors, through which he could already hear the crowds of clamoring humanity.

Nicole just shook her head at her partner's obvious dismay and pushed them open.

Flashbulbs burst as their pictures were taken, quickly disorienting the two, but they quickly recovered in preparation for the numerous benefactors to make themselves known and thanked for generosity.

The night seemed to go by faster after the main course was served and the dancing began. The three benefactors at the table were engaging in conversation…mostly with Nicole. Erik was quickly bored. He wanted to dance. Music was flowing through the air, music that was actually good and not the harrowing nonsense he had been subjected to throughout the recent years. He suspected that Nicole had had a hand in that. Speaking of…

He glanced over at his now male companion. She was animatedly talking with the three benefactors, discussing her plans for the theater and what she envisioned for it. Erik didn't understand how she could be so involved in such affairs of publicity. The person he saw before him was so different from the person he saw in private (both physically and mentally). But she showed the same passion for theater politics as she did learning about music and the arts. He couldn't understand it, but he was amazed at her never-ending thirst for knowledge and her ability to appreciate such knowledge. He wished, more so now than ever, that he could take her in his arms and whisk her away onto the dance floor where they could move together, hand in hand, to the glorious masterpiece of music being orchestrated now around them, letting their bodies express what words could not.

But such things were impossible…She loved the freedom being a man gave her. The ability to speak her mind, and have it heard, was something that could be easily relinquished, especially if anyone found out about who Nicolas Leroux really was. He could not ask her to give something like that up. So, instead, he would be merely content with seeing her true self in private and admiring her male counter-part in public.

A loud laugh startled him from his musings. Turning his attention outward, Erik caught the tail end of a conversation.

"…She has been glancing in your direction most of the night, Monsieur Leroux. I'm quite surprised you haven't noticed."

"No, I'm sorry. You kept my attention quite riveted this entire evening, Monsieur Levine." Nicole replied, her eyes flicked over in one direction of the ballroom.

Erik followed and found Carlotta's eyes on their table…or Nicole, more precisely.

Another of the benefactors decided to put his two cents in, "You know, it would look good publicly if one of you were to dance with our lead singer." He gave both Erik and Nicole meaningful looks.

Nicole smiled, charming and charismatic as ever, "That is a superb idea."

Erik found her hand under the table and squeezed it, rather hard. She gave no outward sign, instead, squeezing back reassuringly. She bid farewell to her tablemates and strode over to Carlotta who plastered a sickingly sweet smile on her face. Erik grimaced as Nicole bowed, took her arm, and then the two glided onto the dance floor. He almost growled when Carlotta pressed herself rather unseemly against Nicole. His attention was diverted from the pair when the three benefactors tried to speak to him as well. He had no choice but to participate in their annoying conversations, leaving Nicole to deal with Carlotta alone…

XXX

If Nicole hadn't spent so much time learning to control her expressions, she would have been grimacing in disgust when she noticed Carlotta eyeing her like a piece of meat. She really didn't even want to look at that woman this night, but could avoid it no longer when one of the benefactors prompted her to dance, using the publicity trigger as an excuse. Although, to be fair, it would be good press.

Nicole, finally came to a stop at the table and held out her hand, bowing in a gentlemanly manner.

"Care to dance, Mme.?"

Again, Nicole had to hold back a grimace as she saw a devilish grin spread over the two swept onto the dance floor. Immediately, flashes from cameras began popping. At first, the dance began polite and cautious, mostly due to Nicole's ability to keep their swaying bodies at a reasonable distance. But then when the next song began, so too did Carlotta's insistence that their bodies press together rather appropriately.

Then she started on the small talk, eventually segwaying into other matters…

"You are quite handsome, Nicolas." She purred in her ear and then made another attempt at squeezing Nicole's behind.

Nicole smiled, "So I have been told." And quickly grabbed Carlotta's hand and brought it back up to her shoulder. She could only imagine what the press would do if they had an actual picture of the prima donna groping one of the managers at the Ball. Nicole could not allow such a thing to occur, not when it was nearly time for the Ball to end, there had to be some way…

Carlotta's eyes hinted at annoyance when her attempt was thwarted once again, but soon the devilish grin was back again, "Should we, perhaps, go someplace more private?"

There it was! The opening!

Nicole forced her lips into one of a conspirator's grin. "That sounds most agreeable."

Carlotta's grin turned into a triumphant smile and she led her across the floor to a hidden hallway and into an adjacent room.

Before Nicole could take stock of the situation she was flung against a wall and suddenly had lips on hers and a forceful tongue trying to worm its way through her now tightly sealed lips. Giving up in that area, Carlotta began attacking Nicole's coat buttons. Nicole became less concerned about the coat in a moment of panic when she felt a hand fumbling around her groin area. Carlotta had gotten to her inner thigh before she finally came to her senses and grabbed Carlotta's hand and forced it to her lips.

"Now, Carlotta, I'm afraid I'm a bit too old fashioned."

Carlotta immediately feigned a sigh of admiration. "Oh, Nicolas!" and seemed to have been "overtaken" once again by her previous passions and began devouring Nicole's lips once more, this time with renewed vigor of her hands, giving them free reign to wander as they willed and where they willed was back to Nicole's groin. But, before it got too close…

Carlotta gasped in shock and outrage as she was ripped from Nicole. Nicole looked into the beautiful golden eyes of her savior, Erik.

"You! You terrible, conniving, bast—"

"They are missing you at the Ball, Carlotta." He spat her name like a curse. Nicole saw his clenched fists and realized he was just on the edge of committing a very violent act. Carlotta seemed to realize too, for she threw a look at Nicole who quickly regained her composure.

"He is right. This was perhaps, a bit unwise." Nicole said in a calm tone.

Carlotta tried to adopt a sultry tone when she asked, "Will I see you again?"

Before Nicole could answer she was saved by a threatening growl erupting from within Erik's rumbling chest, "Get out!"

Fear crept into her eyes but then irritation overtook it. In a huff she strutted out of the room, her footsteps quickly fading down the hall.

Erik was at her side his hands briskly flowing over coat buttons and fastening them, She batted his hands away and picked up where he left off. It was only until she was done that she noticed, "Erik, you're shaking."

Erik glanced away but his hands still trembled. Nicole stepped towards him and gently wrapped her hands around his. He reluctantly turned back to her face and almost had to stop himself from kissing her, despite the fact that she still looked like a he.

"You are quite fortunate that moustache managed to cling to your face." He tried to smile. It was a weak attempt.

Nicole glared at him. "Don't try to change the subject. Why are you shaking?"

He didn't glance away this time. "I was so close…so close to losing control and...killing her."

His blazing eyes burned into hers, almost daring her to flinch away, to condemn him for having a soul as gruesome as his face. Afterall, that was exactly what Christine had done…

But Nicole, once again, surprised him. "After what she did, I would have gladly done the deed myself." She finally smiled a true smile. "What do you say to us bidding farewell to our guests and then descending down to our lair to plot Carlotta's death over a nice bottle of Merlot?"

The words 'our lair' sharply penetrated Erik's brain. Our lair…He breathed in deeply and finally got a hold on his emotions. "That would be most welcome."

The two went back to the Ball, pleased to find out that it was quickly winding down. They did their best to help it along and then made one last grateful speech, finally drawing it to a close. As the guests departed, they quickly slipped away using one of Erik's many secret passages.