It had started out as a job. He was used to it by now, so it wasn't like it was a big deal to just do one more job for the guy. In fact, he had jumped at the opportunity. To him, it was easy, and it was an extra €25000 in his pocket, so he couldn't have accepted any faster.

He had been employed by the Viscount many times before. Some guy who his girlfriend was supposedly making eyes at (that had been €30000 straight in his pocket), a long lost cousin who was spreading rumours about the family's affairs (a big fat €27500 for that one), and now this new assignment. If it was going to be the same as the others, it would be a breeze.

Of course, he hadn't always been in this business. No, he had once made a great name for himself in the world of architecture, and had wanted to pursue his natural talent. That was, until he moved to Paris to try and study more there. He had thought about building an opera house, but his plan was quickly foiled when he had gotten into this particular craft.

This new ploy, though, had caught him out. He had never been given the case of a woman before. After he had agreed and was given the file of numbers, pictures, and information of the young woman, he had considered declining the offer for a short while. He hadn't dared look at anything else yet, not at the pictures, not at the connections and likely whereabouts, just the name. It was circled in red ink on the front of the file, glaring up at him, underlined several times. It seemed to haunt him, if only for about five seconds.

He tried it out on his tongue and felt his mood lift significantly, even in the dirty alley way he stood in, gazing at the name through the dim light of the street lamp.

"Christine Daaé."

He had taken the file home that name and stared at it from across the table. He should look at it, he almost felt like he needed to- like he physically had to find out more about this woman. But then when he thought more about it, he remembered what it was he was supposed to do to her, how he shouldn't get attached. After all, he had never had a problem with attachments before- he had never loved anyone and nobody had ever loved him, it was simple. Why should this girl be any different?

But then he thought about her name and how the consonants seemed to roll of his tongue so effortlessly, and how when he said it, he whispered it with such natural softness- he had almost said it as thought it were a prayer, like it was a dainty object that must be cared for with the utmost respect and kindness. It was curious how he could feel such a strong pull towards such a silly thing such as a name when he could commit the worst of crimes without so much as a heartbeat.

He reached out quickly, grabbing the file and opening it, dragging it closer to him and inspecting the information. He involuntary smiled when he read the name again, this time in black print writing at the top of the page. Underneath, the sheet told him her age, family members, occupation, and the reason for this case.

She was a mere seventeen years old. He was expected to carry out such an act on a woman half the age of him. His heart started to thump loudly in his ears.

Both her mother and father, deceased. No other known relatives. He frowned. His palms started to sweat.

She was a singer; an opera singer, to be precise. He started to breath heavily. Of course she would choose the profession that he admired and cherished the most in the cold world he lived in.

His heart dropped and the colour drained from his awfully hot face when he saw the print underneath the underlined title; 'reason for case'.

'Mademoiselle Daaé is currently courting my brother; Raoul, vicomte de Chagny. This must be stopped.'

Through his racing mind, he could only come up with one reason for this- the fact that she was an opera singer, an occupation and social status that would not be expected for a Vicomtesse. It was appalling, yet he was supposed to carry this out regardless of the reason. He had done it before, why was this one particular woman making him rethink his employment?

I don't even know where this came from. This is obviously an AU. I don't own anything except for the storyline. If you think this is an awful plotline, please tell me so I can stop tricking myself into thinking I can write. If you do like it, sorry this is so short- I really just wanted to see if anybody would read this, so please tell me if you would like to see more, it will really motivate me to carry this on. Thanks for reading! :)