Part 10:

((edit: looks like i have to leave you hanging for a while-i have long shifts at work the next two days and i will not be able to write much of significance. so. cliffhanger~~~~ till probably monday the 22nd. sorry!))

C-

I push through two or three people, summoning strength I didn't know I had in my mad scramble to put myself in the way. I push the gun away, arms out, all of me in front of Erik. Darius pulls the gun away.

"God, Christine! I wasn't gonna shoot!" He exclaims, looking at me like I'm the crazy one, when it was him pointing a loaded gun at Erik.

"What was I supposed to think? What's going on here? What the fuck are you doing with a gun?!" I scream. All the people stare at me, unsure what to do.

"Christine!" Erik says from behind me. I turn to see him, still wide eyed, shrunken down, afraid, but desperate. "Get out of here!" He half-begs, then puts a hand over his face- his gaunt, noseless face- and then the other, ashamed. I just stumble towards him, falling to my knees to hug him.

"I'm not going anywhere, damn you." I sob.

"But I- They- You saw-" He protests, understandably concerned, but I don't have the patience to let him pity himself.

"And I don't care! All I care about is how fucking scared you looked! Who did that? Who-" I break down, and Erik, forgetting his face, puts his arms around me. I cry into his loose hair, probably breathing too hard in his ear, sure, at least for now, that my being here keeps him safe.

"Christine, hush, please-" I feel his cheeks push into my own hair, his lips close to my ear.

"I'm sorry for swearing you were just so scared and there's all these people and they've got guns and I thought you were gonna die and I couldn't- I couldn't-"

"Shh, it's alright- they would never- not in front of you-" He says, like that's any better. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He whispers. "I wanted to warn you, at least, before they got here, but it seems we ran out of time, and- and my mask-" I feel his heart stop, literally, in panic. Through strands of dark hair I see it. I lean us back, reaching for it. I keep one arm around Erik, pulling him with me, trying to keep him safe by taking him hostage.

"I don't care what you look like, but here. I know you want it. I know you need it." I say, pulling it by the string towards us. He grabs it, and I turn around to watch the other people as he puts it on, desperate for it. Mr. Khan stands at the front of the crowd, at some point replacing Darius, though he's just off to the side. All the guns are down, everyone more curious than anything. I glare at each and every one of them, and Mr. Khan laughs.

"What's so funny!?" I snarl, tensing my shoulders.

"You two." He says, grinning.

"Daroga, what will happen to Christine?" Erik asks, pulling us to our feet. The black mask looks so odd on him, the face it's making angry, vicious. The pearly blue one was relaxed, calm, neutral. This one shines like blood on oil.

"Nothing. She will be debriefed and sent on her way." Mr. Khan says. Erik sighs, pulling me close.

"Thank you. May I.. say my farewells?" His hand tightens on my shoulder, ever so slightly.

"Farewells? Where the hell do you think you're going?" I ask, squeezing him around the middle angrily. I glare at him and then everyone else again, challenging them to try to take him. I've already stabbed one guy today. Mr. Khan sighs, his jovial attitude falling away into a more somber mood.

"It seems we have much to talk about. Come with us." He waves, turning on his heel. All the agents and Darius spread out around us, not really giving us a choice. I hold on to Erik as we step over and around bodies -these people are dead- and they tuck us into a big black car waiting in the street, and drive us away. I do not let go of Erik, not even once we're in the car, choosing to probably unsafely buckle us both into the same spot. I don't care. Today- this whole damn month- has been too crazy to do anything else but hold on. Not until I get my answers, not until I know Erik is safe.

Erik holds me just as tightly, just as desperate, just as unwilling to let go. I wonder if whatever we've got is considered unhealthy, too needy, too close, but once again, I can't bring myself to care. I love him. That's all I know, and that's all I need to know about us. He hasn't said it, but I'm pretty sure he loves me too.

When we arrive, a very short drive later, they pull us out, to my great surprise, at the park across the street from Erik's shop. What on earth? Mr. Khan, Darius, Erik, and I sit on two benches, brought together by the other agent guys, facing each other. Erik and I across from Darius and his ever-more-mysterious uncle.

"We can talk freely here. I have jurisdiction over the whole square and all the buildings, too." Mr. Khan explains, but somehow that explains nothing. "I'm sure you have questions?"

"Yeah. A couple." I say, and clear my throat. "What the fuck?"

"Christine!" Erik gasps, Darius and Khan laughing hysterically.

"I'm serious! This is- this has all been too crazy! What- just what?"

"A good question. Let us start at the beginning. What do you know of Erik's early life?" Mr. Khan asks.

"He.. before you showed up and started waving guns around like crazy people, he said he was kinda recruited into a gang when he was young? Something like that?"

"More or less. He lived off thievery as a child, was known as the Phantom through several cities in France, for he was never caught, and never left any trace of himself. Until one day he was caught by, yes, something of a gang. The details here do not matter so much. They threatened that if he did not join them, work for them, they would kill him for his attempt. So, being the rational person he was, he killed their leader."

"Now, it was not like that, and you know it! I did what they asked and they-" He looks away, unwilling to put it to words. After tonight, and the attitude the group had, I can guess. I give him a squeeze, hoping I'm being reassuring, comforting. Mr. Khan continues.

"Yes, well… They were not kind in return of his services, let us say. So, to escape, he killed their leader-"
"It was self defense.." Erik growls.

"- and ran. Right out of the country, though we never found out how, exactly. I suppose he wouldn't be a phantom if we knew all his secrets, eh? Well, wherever he went, misery and violence followed, until he landed in my home country, Iran. He had something of a fan following that quite literally followed him there, all out for his blood, and causing no end of mayhem and disaster wherever they trailed him. My sister and I were leaving the country, for reasons of our own, and some way or another this fool thought he could use that to get himself away, and vanish. He tried to threaten us, but he did not know that I was a lawman there. I caught him, though not easily.

There was some.. mischief. A lot of tricky details and things that needed to be worked through, but worked through they were. Though I am retired, he is under my care. We have a very strict agreement that I fought very hard to have allowed, an agreement he broke tonight."

"Which was?"

"I would stay in one place for the rest of my life, causing no trouble and harming no one, or I would be sent back to Europe to have a proper sentencing that would undoubtedly end with me in prison." Erik says.

"So you broke your.. parole, basically, to come save me? You can't send him to jail for that!" I shout at Mr. Khan, who only shrugs.

"It's not up to me. It's all in paper, decided a little over eighteen years ago. He chose to break the agreement."

"That's fair! You- first of all, I'm pretty sure it's cruel and unusual punishment to literally lock him inside one house, even a nice one, for the rest of his life! Second of all, he didn't hurt anyone! I'm fine!"

"Ma'am, he killed seven people in about forty seconds." Darius says. Oh. Right. I'd forgotten that.

"Yeah, but they- they were villains! He was saving me!"

"I won't argue they were rather indecent people, criminals, all of them, with horrible, blood-stained records and deeds to their names, but did that deserve death?" Mr. Khan asks, philosophically.

"..No."

"I do applaud him for being selfless in coming to your aid, Christine, but a deal is a deal. He stepped foot from his shop. The sensor in his ankle will have sent this information to all the proper authorities, one of which is myself. It's recorded on some computer somewhere, for all time. He cannot deny it, and neither can we."

"So you're going to take him away..?" Darius nods, Erik turns away, and Mr. Khan stares blankly, unbothered. "That's not.. That can't be allowed, that's not.. that's not fair.."

"What's not fair? We had an agreement. He broke it. There are consequences." Mr. Khan says.

"That's not fair to me! Like- I know how that sounds, but god damn it!" I squeeze Erik, my fingers tearing into his vest and shirt, and he squeezes me back.

"I'm so sorry, Christine. I shouldn't have let things-" He tries to take the blame, but I stop him.

"No, no, no, don't pull that! I wish you would've explained from the beginning but it's too late for that. I already care about you, and I do not want to entertain thoughts about 'this shouldn't have happened' and stupid what ifs! I regret nothing of that. I just thought.."

"We'd get a happy ending?"

"Yeah." I pout. "And don't tell me you told me so." I sigh. After everything, I really thought, I really hoped.. I'm so dizzy. My head throbs and I just don't want to deal with any of this. I want Erik to take me home, and I want us to go to bed and never think about this again.

"Would it mean anything if I said I had rather hoped things would work out as well?"

"Yeah. It means a lot."

"Yes, it does rather mean a lot." Mr. Khan says, interrupting. "But what does it mean, Erik?" Erik squares his jaw at him, the angry face of the mask fitting the situation perfectly. "Oh, come on. I am still your friend, Erik. I am still on your side, as much as I can be. Surely you can tell me this, before I have to whisk you away and you have no more free, unfiltered words?" Erik thinks about it and relents, sighing.

"It means I wanted to spend my life here. I was happy, and would be happy, to live in the shop and tend my flowers and see her. I was happy, for the first time I can ever remember, and it is because of her. I am happy and loved and in love and-" He says, hesitating. "I love her." He says, and then his breath hitches. "I don't want to go." He sighs, and melts into the bench, into me. I hug him all the tighter.

"I don't want you to go, either."

"I thought I could do it, could walk nobly away to my doom, if it meant leaving you in safety but I.. I can't. This will break me.." He turns his head, looking at me, pleadingly, though I don't think he has any idea what I can do. I sure don't.

"Is there anything I can do? To keep him here? Please." I ask Mr. Khan. He tilts his head, thinking.

"No. No, there is really nothing you can do, dear Christine. But your nobility is noted. You may have a moment alone, and then we must go, Erik. The Bureau will be wanting you." Mr. Khan says, and rises, leaving it at that. Darius follows, but his face says that he's less than comfortable with this decision, and ultimately powerless to change it. Erik and I watch them go, leaving us in the yellow-lit park alone.

"Can we run away?" I ask first, breaking the silence.

"Oh, Christine. I would, that I could, but the sensor in my ankle is a tracker, too. They would follow us for all time. There would never be a moment of rest, and it would not end peacefully."

"Is it, like, in your ankle?"

"Yes. Surgically implanted."

"Oh my god. That's sick- why would.." I want to bang my head on a wall. This is all so ridiculous.

"It's much better than the alternate. Daroga fought very hard for this merciful option on my behalf. I was still a child.. Well. I thought of myself as very old already, but I was only.. twenty-two?" He thinks aloud. "But they were certain that if I went to court I would have been tried as an adult, given my age when I was caught and the severity of my crimes even when I was younger, after all, my first kill was at the age of fourteen, and it never seemed to stop after that.. and with the enemies of mine who'd been caught and sent to their own imprisonment along the way, it was assured I wouldn't survive in any sort of prison for very long."

"God." I reel. "This is insane, Erik. What kinda world..?"

"I ask that question very often, Christine. I do not think there is a reason, anymore. It simply is. But it is the world in which I was able to know you. I think.. I think that is worth it."

"Is it really? If you could turn back time, undo all this heartache, all of it, you wouldn't do it? For me?"

"I think so. I am not certain, but I think so." He looks at me, and I at him, and I don't know what more to say, what more to do. The bench feels cold underneath us, despite the sun having only just gone down no more than an hour ago.

"I am happy to have known you. I don't want to say goodbye. I want.." I don't know what I want. I feel like all the possibilities are being stolen out from under me, such that I can't even guess anymore.

"I know. I do, as well. Anything. Everything." He says, hushed. "May I.. say something?"

"Anything."

"You.. you said that you loved me. Twice, now. I have only said so once. So, Christine, I would like you to know that I-" He takes a breath, holding both my hands in both of his, "- love you." The sincerity, the gentleness with which he says it, like it's a magic spell, a sacred promise, makes me really feel it.

"I love you, too, you awkward thing, you."

"I do not understand how.. especially now, now that you know everything.." He sighs, but I just hold his hands tighter.

"Hey, remember how I said I'd understand, or try to?" Erik nods.

"I was in a bit of a state, but yes."

"Well, I do. I mean, not completely, because I wasn't there and I'm not you, but I think I do as much as any outside observer can understand someone else's experience. And I still love you. Maybe even more now."

"And though you have seen..?" He gestures to the mask, but his eyes are steady on mine.

"I don't care how you look. It was a shock, I guess, and I'm sure if you had your way it would have gone way differently, if at all. But.. it's you. Or, it's not you. Your face is not who you are in your entirety, it just contributes, I guess. And I love who you are, so I love what you look like. That sounds bonkers to you, I'm sure.."

"Coming from you, it only makes sense. I.. cannot relate, entirely, but I think I understand. I love you so much for these things, Christine. For being you. You impossible you. I hate to leave.. I wish.. I so desperately wish I could stay. Now that we are at an understanding, it would be so, no, it already is so freeing to be here, in this moment with you, and I imagine our future would be a bright one. I wish I could give you that future. But I can't."

"I know. I know you would if you could. I'd do anything if I thought it would help, but I can't think of anything.. Will I be able to write to you, or call?" Maybe there's hope in that way, at least.. but Erik shakes his head, mournful.

"Not likely. I.. I am still afraid I will have enemies. If they have not forgotten, I will not live in safety. But I will hold you in my heart for every day until my last, whether it's two or two thousand."

"And I'll remember you in mine forever. I will never, ever forget loving you." I shake my head, but I make myself dizzy.

"Careful, love. You may have a concussion.." Erik runs a hand over the bandage he so carefully wrapped himself, eyes bright with regret.

"I'll get myself checked out, don't worry." I force myself to smile, but once I start, it's not very forced at all. "I'm happy to have this moment with you."

"Indeed. You know, I never thought I would be able to share a moment outside, truly outside with you.. I never hoped for even this much." He smiles back.

"Erik.. would it be too much of me to ask.."

"What?" He tilts his head, curious.

"To see you smile without your mask? Just once? I'll understand if you say no, I just.. I don't want to remember you scared.." I feel stupid for asking, for thinking it, for imposing on him like that, but he only hesitates a moment, taking his hands back from mine to untie it. It falls away into his hand, and he lifts his face from the porcelain, smiling unsurely.

I take a moment to study his face, to look him over and try to memorize the details the right way, before time tries to muddy and distill it into something wrong. It's not bad, really. I reach a hand out to touch his cheek, where dried blood is flaking off, to brush it away. I'm not surprised to find the skin of his face is just as soft as his hands, as his lips.

"Can I ask something else?"

"I'm not sure what more I have to give, but yes." He smiles genuinely here, almost laughing.

"Can I kiss you? Before you go?" He blanches, smile falling away, but he just seems surprised.

"You still- even though I'm..?" He blinks, and I giggle. I love how he does that.

"Yes, of course. It's the only thing I really have to give to you, anyway."

"You have given me so much more than I ever deserved, Christine Daae." Erik leans close, until our foreheads touch, our eyes just inches apart, mouths not too much more distant. "But I will be selfish for a moment, and accept a kiss." I smile.

"You dork." I say, and press forward, eyes closed. It's short- I'm not brave or comfortable enough with anything that lasts too long- but it feels perfect to me. We sit there, foreheads together, in the dark, until someone calls for Erik. Both of us sighing, we pull away, and Erik replaces his mask. We stand, in unison, Erik turning and stepping out of the way to reveal Mr. Khan, waving him over with a hand. I get the sense that I should stay here, and let Erik go alone.

He swallows, and I can see him steeling himself, his future as uncertain as mine, though in vastly different ways. He turns back to me, hands half closed. I take a breath and hug him, and try to remember all the times we said goodbye before, how perfect it was to hold him and be held, even if it was the close of our time together. I almost smell the magnolias from the spring, almost feel the dirt under my nails..

And then I pull away, smiling, still holding a hand of his in mine. I refuse to cry until he's gone, refuse to be the last he sees of me a face of sadness. He smiles back, truly happy, and then turns, hand pulling on mine until only our fingers hang from each other, and then he's gone. I watch him walk away, disappear into the car, and the car into the night.

I sit back down on the bench when he's gone, and feel colder than I have in a long time.