Hello lovely readers! Just so you know, I mentioned Erik's opera in this chapter and therefore had to do some guesstimating on when Don Juan would have been performed. After all, sets have to be constructed, costumes have to be sewn, lines need to be learned, rehearsals have to happen, Prima Donnas have to be begged by their fiancés and managers to perform. Based on what I know about producing shows (which, to be honest, is only high school productions, not anything on a professional level) it takes two to three months to get a show performance-worthy. Since Erik gave them Don Juan on New Years, that would put the performance around February or March. Read and Review!

~nibblesfan

"What happened to you Fräuline?" Nadir asked with concern the moment he saw Katja's bruised cheek. "Are you alright?"

"Nadir, you've only walked in the door. Leave her be for the moment," Erik snapped. "Besides, I didn't ask you to come here to interrogate Katja."

"It's fine Erik," Katja interrupted. She took his hand and squeezed it gently trying to assure him. Much to her surprise, pain flashed across his face. Katja immediately pulled his black leather glove off. His knuckles were black and blue, injured from hitting the gypsy. Because he always seemed to have the gloves on, she hadn't noticed before. "Oh Himmel," she gasped.

The Persian's gaze traveled from Erik's hand back up to her face. "It's not what you think Daroga," Erik snarled, pulling his glove back on. It was obvious that Nadir had incorrectly put two and two together. "I would never hurt her."

"A man attacked me on the street," Katja explained, leaping to Erik's defense. "Erik saved me again. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"I see he obviously lost his temper," Nadir said, his voice full of disapproval.

"She was attacked!" Erik shouted. "Of course I lost my temper! Don't tell me that you wouldn't have done the same thing at the time!"

Nadir didn't even blink at Erik's outburst. "I never said I wouldn't. I was just noting the fact that you did. And you do tend to get violent when you lose your temper as you're doing now."

Erik growled, but Katja put her hand on his shoulder and sent him a pleading look. He exhaled slowly and took a step back. She wondered what would have happened if she hadn't been here. But as she realized, Nadir and Erik had been driving each other crazy for a lot longer than she had known either of them. "How did you two meet?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Years ago I got restless," Erik started. "I left Paris to travel for a while, and eventually wound up in Persia. The Shah learned I had a talent for architecture and illusions and hired me to construct a palace for him. Because he didn't trust me, it was Nadir's job to spy on me. We developed a friendship and when the Shah decided I knew too much and ordered my death, Nadir helped me fake my death and escape the country. I returned to Paris and to the opera house."

"But Persia is so far away," Katja replied. "How did you wind up in France Herr Kahn? And how did you find Erik again?"

"The Shah never quite believed that Erik was dead," Nadir explained. "He knew that we had become friends and as a result, he no longer trusted me. I left the country before I met the same fate that was supposed to befall Erik. Erik's stories of France, Paris especially, had intrigued me, and since I now needed a place to go, it seemed as good a place as any. Once I was settled in, I decided to see what was so appealing about opera, since Erik had been so obsessed with it. When I started hearing rumors of an opera ghost, it sounded a lot like Erik and his tricks so I started looking into it. After investigating for a while, I wound up finding him."

"And I still haven't been able to get rid of you," Erik replied sullenly, making Katja giggle.

"It sounds like you two have been at this for a long time."

"Probably for about as long as you've been alive," Nadir said with a smile. Suddenly he looked Katja over again. "Just how old are you Fräuline?"

"I…I don't know," Katja stuttered. "I…I was fifteen when they took me."

"Fifteen?" Erik repeated. His whole body grew tense, his voice shook with anger. "Fifteen?! How could anyone do what they did to someone that young?!"

"Erik…" Nadir said warningly before turning back to Katja. "And when exactly was that?"

Katja closed her eyes and thought about it for a minute. "March second," she replied. She hesitated for a moment more before continuing with, "Eighteen eighty-two."

Nadir and Erik exchanged a glance. "Wasn't that the same night of…?"

"Yes it was," Erik suddenly snapped, cutting him off.

"The same night as what?" she asked.

Erik shot Nadir a dirty look. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" the Persian asked in disbelief.

"Yes, nothing. Katja, could you please excuse us for a while. Nadir and I need to speak in private for a little while."

She knew she was being dismissed. Katja couldn't believe that Erik had addressed her so coldly. Whatever Nadir was going to say obviously angered him. For a moment she was going to argue, but she didn't want to upset Erik further and instead did as he asked and went into her room. She wondered what was going on. He never had been this way with her before. Whatever Nadir was going to say, Erik didn't want her to know.

"What was that about?" Nadir asked once Katja was gone.

"I haven't told her," Erik growled. "She doesn't know about what I did to Buquet and Piangi, she doesn't know about Don Juan, De Chagny, any of that. She only knows there was a fire years ago and I intend to keep it that way."

"Katja has no idea?" Nadir asked in disbelief. "You haven't told her?"

"That's what I said," Erik said with a glare. "Is it wrong for me to want one person to think I'm decent, who doesn't think I'm a monster? A person who can accept me for me? Not judge me for something I did. I can't change the past or what I did, but I can try to shield it from her."

"So what happens when she decides to ask or hears a rumor?"

All the rage seemed to drain out of Erik with that one question. "I don't have to worry about that. She won't get the chance," he sighed. "She's leaving."

"She's what?!"

"Last night, she asked me to take her home. I promised her if she ever asked I would take her, and I am a man of my word."

"Have I ever mentioned you have the oddest set of morals I have ever come across?"

Erik ignored the remark. "That's why I asked you here. I need you to help me arrange travel for us across the border."

"Because the mask is still suspicious," Nadir guessed. "It's been five years and you still can't go out in daylight because all of Paris still remembers the Opera Ghost."

"I'll provide all necessary funds of course, but we'll need train tickets, papers, everything," Erik informed him. "Do you think you can handle that?"

"What if I decide not to help?"

"We need them as soon as possible," Erik continued as though Nadir hadn't spoken. "I don't want her to feel trapped here any longer than necessary." He let out a sigh. "I'm sure she can't wait to leave. Nobody ever wants to stay with a monster."

Nadir sighed. "I'll see what I can do for you."

After his friend left, Erik sat heavily in a nearby armchair with a frustrated sigh. Suddenly Katja's door flew open. She was on the other side, staring at him with her eyes open wide. "Was haben Sie gemacht?" she asked in German, but he could tell by her tone that she was upset.

"I don't understand what you asked," he replied. "What's wrong?"

"Buquet, Piangi, De Chagny, who are they?" she started, her eyes burning with an unspoken accusation. His heart stopped when he realized she had been listening in on his conversation with Nadir. "Erik, what did you do?"

German Translations

Oh Himmel-Oh heavens

Was haben Sie gemacht?-What have you done?