I sadly don't own the Phantom or any other characters created by G. Leroux, S. Kay and A. L. Webber, but they always have a place in my heart.

THE BANK

Though Erik was exhausted, he didn't immediately fall asleep that night. Thoughts of what was to come in the morning plagued him. It had been a while since he was out in broad daylight, and he had never gone without his mask. In the last months, when his whole being was consumed with the love for Christine, Madame Giry had been the one who brought his 'salary' from the opera to the bank.

The Vicomte surely would press the police to continue their search for him after they hadn't found him in the depths of the opera. So it was a good thing that he would go to the bank in the company of a woman, and also that he could mask his deformity under a bandage. He was sure that it would raise much less suspicions than going there alone. Finally, he succumbed to an uneasy sleep.

They slept until the early morning. Joséphine was the first to stir, feeling slightly disorientated. After realising where she was, she let out a deep breath and looked over to Erik who was still asleep in the corner, his face towards the wall.

She reached for the dress that she had put next to the bed and slipped it on, then went over to Erik's sleeping form. Intent to wake him, she knelt down by his side and tapped his shoulder.

Immediately, he turned around in one swift moment and grabbed her by the throat, pinning her underneath him.

Joséphine let out a strangled sound as the air supply was cut off from her body. Finally focusing on the person under him, Erik released her abruptly and sat back in the corner.

Joséphine drew a long breath to get some air back into her lungs and looked at him, aghast. She stood up and moved back to the bed, stumbling on her way. Erik made no attempt to help her but stayed at the other side of the room, his face hidden.

Joséphine opened her mouth to speak, but only a croak escaped her. She thought seeing Erik flinch at the noise, but he gave no reaction otherwise. She cleared her throat and tried again.

"Are you always this paranoid?" she asked him, her voice a bit hoarse. He finally raised his head to look at her.

"I am not used to wake up in company," he replied.

"Well, you better get used to it, I won't let myself be choked to death every morning," she told him angrily, rubbing her throat.

"It was not my intention to hurt you," Erik explained. It seemed that was as much of an excuse as she could get.

"I guess I'll be fine," she replied dryly. She certainly would be more careful around him from now on. Especially in the mornings.

"We should go now," he informed her. He rose and wrapped the linen which he had discarded during the night around his head. Joséphine tried as best as she could to make her hair presentable, then stood up and headed towards the door. Erik was there first and opened it for her. Casting him a sideways glance, she went through and headed down the stairs.

Because of the early hour there weren't many people on the streets, mostly workers and servants, and nobody paid them any particular attention. Within minutes they had arrived at the bank. A young man in uniform was about to open the gates that secured the door.

"Bonjour, Madame, Monsieur," he said, nodding to each of them, "the bank will open in a minute." Then he left to the right side of the building.

After what was a little longer than a minute, the doors of the bank opened to reveal a man in his forties in a fashionable suit. He looked them up and down, taking in the contrast between Joséphine's expensive clothing and Erik's tousled state, not too sure what to think of them.

"I have come to get something from my deposit," Erik informed the banker. "Yes of course, Monsieur…" "Perrault, Erik Perrault," Erik told the man.

"If you will follow me," the employee said and led them to a desk at the back of the bank.

"Please, sit down," he gestured to the two chairs in front of the desk. "If you would hand me your papers, I will send someone down immediately to bring your deposit box."

"The papers are in the deposit, I have an arrangement to answer some security questions to get access," Erik explained to the man. The banker lifted an eyebrow, but he knew that sometimes clients asked for a special agreement with the owner of the bank, so he called for one of his colleagues to bring him the form Erik had to fill out.

Joséphine took all this in without saying a word. She had actually thought that getting Erik's documents from the bank would be much more difficult because of his appearance. But apparently, as long as you were a good client, it didn't matter. And the strap he had wound around his head made it convincingly seem as if he had been in an accident.

After Erik had filled out the questionnaire and his identity was therefore proofed, they were led to a small cubicle to give them the required privacy to take out everything they needed. Though Joséphine was curious to see what he had stored at the bank, she stepped back to let him attend to his things.

Erik opened the deposit box that had been brought into the cubicle to reveal a considerable amount of money and some newspaper articles of Christine's triumphs on stage. Lingering for a few seconds over a picture of Christine, he quashed down the emotions they awoke, then took a few packets of notes and searched for his papers.

After he was done, he closed the lid and stuffed the documents and part of the money under his shirt, offering the rest to Joséphine. "This is for the tavern and the priest," Erik told her.

Joséphine nodded and put the money in her purse. Signalling for the employee that they were done, they left the cubicle and went back to the banker at the desk.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Monsieur Perrault?" the employee said, standing up.

"Yes, there is. We are going to be married today, and I want her to have unlimited access to my account and the deposit." Joséphine gasped, surprised.

"Of course," the banker replied, searching his drawers for the form.

"Please fill this out," handing the form to Joséphine along with a quill. She looked at Erik, who only nodded and indicated that he would explain later.

So she did as she was asked, filled in the required blanks and handed the paper back to the banker. "Very well, you will have access to the savings of your husband from tomorrow on. And congratulations, if I may say so," the employee stated. The couple stood up, said their goodbyes and headed for the exit.

As soon as they were on the street, Joséphine stopped Erik with a hand on his arm.

"Why did you do this?" she asked him, still bewildered.

He looked down on her, a small smile on his face. "You were the one that wanted everything to look as normal as possible."

"Giving his wife unlimited access to his money is not the standard," was her retort.

"I know, but should I get caught or should your stepmother find a way to deprive you of your heritage you would still have enough to live comfortable."

"I….you…alright," she stammered. She couldn't quite shake the feeling that his sudden generosity had something to do with the attack this morning. The longer she knew this man, the more questions popped into her mind. He was quite unpredictable, that she knew already. But there were so many other sides to him. She swore to herself to find out as much as possible about him.

Regaining her composure, she looked at him, then smiled. "Now let's go to the registry and finish this."