Hey guys, I'm sorry I took so long to get this done- it's been such a busy time for me. Anyway, I'm sure you don't want to read me ramble so I'll just get to the last chapter. Again, there will be a sequel- I'm not entirely sure when but I'll try to get it started, um, within the next few months. And P.S- this one has some references to Leroux, kudos to who finds it.

The steady ticking of the clock was the only sound that could be heard in Christine's apartment, save for the breathing of the two occupants. Out of the corner of his eye, Erik could see her hands trembling, despite the fact she was staring at him rather defiantly. His features softened slightly as she reached out and touched her fingertips to the hair just above where his first button was casually undone. "Christine," he breathed as she laid her hands against his chest. Not many circumstances surprised the masked man, but this certainly did.

"Erik," she replied softly, and she watched him lean forward to take her lips. A smirk crossed her face as he got close enough, and just as their lips were about to touch she used her strength to push him away. Quickly wheeling around on her heel, she bolted over to the kitchen, swiftly climbing over the island to pull her glock 35 pistol out of the cabinet. It took less than a moment until the pistol was level with Erik's head.

Although he didn't move, he mentally scolded himself for his foolishness a few seconds ago. "I see you're not one to forget a grudge."

"No," was all that the blonde agent bothered to say in response.

Erik only nodded, clearing his throat before he began. "Christine, I am sorry about your-"

"Shut up," she hissed, walking around the island so as there was no other barrier between her and the man. Neither her grip on the pistol, nor her arm faltered however. "Why are you here?"

"I suppose then your big mouthed sidekick hasn't informed you."

"The abeyance mission."

"That's right," he said, holding out his panel for her to take.

Christine crept cautiously forward, although she did not put down her weapon. She took the panel from Erik's outstretched arm. "Since when does Operations not brief abeyance missions?" She asked bitterly, as she held the panel just far enough so she could read it and keep an eye on her fellow agent.

"Operations felt it was better if I personally briefed you for this one. It is of the utmost importance that we succeed-"

"For who? For you? Operations? The Section?" She slowly began to walk around the small apartment. "Why should I care?"

"It is not just for the Section, this is a terrorist threat- hundreds, possibly thousands of civilian lives are at stake."

Christine chuckled bitterly, "since when did you care?"

"All the information you could possibly require is on that panel. I would suggest you familiarize yourself with it," he stated calmly, effectively dodging her question.

"No thanks, I'm not interested."

"You don't have a choice."

"Yes I do."

Erik shook his head and took a step forward. "No, you can't bypass abeyance missions, Christine. You know this."

"I can defer them though, why die now when I can die later…"

Erik closed his eyes, turning away from the woman. This was not the way it was supposed to be, it was not the way her life was supposed to play out. Erik wondered why she must always be so difficult, why she could not simply follow orders. If she had they would not be in this position now. "Christine," he breathed softly, but firmly.

"I don't regret what I did. I regret not succeeding. I regret my father's death."

Once again, Erik dodged the subject. "Your mission is tomorrow, I've given you more information than you need. If you study it well, it should increase survival rate by fifteen, maybe sixteen or seventeen percent.

"Great, so there's an 85 chance I might die tomorrow either way," Christine tossed the panel back to him, a little harder than what she intended but it wasn't as if that mattered, "thanks for your generosity, but no thanks."

"Stop being so foolish, Christine."

Christine was silent for a moment, though her eyes never left him. "You know," she began, barely above a whisper, "I think I'd rather die now than later."

However, before she was even able to turn her weapon on herself, she crashed full force into the wall behind her. Her wrists were pinned to the wall and she tried to keep her hold of the pistol, but it was not long until he had it wrestled out of her grip. "No," she whimpered, as he dropped it and kicked the weapon across the room. "Let me go," Christine hissed as she struggled in his grip.

"There'll be none of that."

"Let me go, Erik, I'm serious!"

"So am I," he said, as he reluctantly loosened his grip on Christine's wrists, enough so she once again took the opportunely to push him away. Neither of them said a word as Christine crossed the small area of her apartment to the sofa where her weapon had been quick towards. Without breaking their eye contact, she quickly bent over to retrieve the small pistol. She then walked forward, each step evenly paced and announced. Once again, she raised her arm so that the barrel was level with Erik's neck.

"Erik," she started softly, "give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you."

Erik said nothing for a long while, and Christine never wavered. She was slightly shocked as he closely began to walk towards her, so close that the barrel of the gun and his skin at his neck were almost touching. Almost.

Christine couldn't read him at all, and she wondered silently to herself what he was doing. Was he going to retaliate again? Grab the weapon and turn it on her? It's not like it was the first time. Truth be told, however, she didn't know if she could actually harm Erik. Still, after all this time, she still was not like them. She couldn't harm someone she cared about.

But, it obviously didn't mean she couldn't bluff.

Erik reached out and touched his fingertips to Christine's, grazing the calloused skin holding the pistol in a death's grip. "I can't think of a single reason." When Christine said nothing in response he uncharacteristically continued, "Do it, Christine."

Christine stifled back a sob by biting her lip as she pressed her weapon further against him. "I should," she whispered.

"Yes."

Shaking her head, Christine brought her hand to her side and slowly placed the gun on the coffee table. "I can't."

"Then you've failed us both, Christine."

"So, what else is new…" she bit back as she opened the balcony doors and stepped outside to the chilly night air.

"It was your last chance to prove you still could belong to the Section," he replied as he followed her.

Christine wheeled around on her heel to face him, annoyance clearly written across her features. In a move that was perhaps more out of reflex than conscious thought, her hand flew out to catch the unmasked side of Erik's face. Christine wasn't exactly an advocate for domestic violence on any account, but she did feel better after slapping him. After all he put her through; it wasn't as if he didn't deserve it. She cleared her throat and straightened up before making her verbal response. "I thought we already have this established, I never have belonged in Section, I never could and I never will, you should know this by now," Christine hissed.

Erik didn't bother to place his hand over his stinging cheek; he refused to give her that satisfaction. He couldn't hold it against the girl though; Christine was not the first woman he held some kind of affection for to slap him. He grabbed her arm and closed the short distance between them. He replied the same, "What should I do with you, Christine?"

Christine stood there gazing up at him, defiantly, but with an intensifying look about her. She finally licked her lips before giving her answer. "If you loved me," she began softly, "you would let me go."

"You speak very confidently, my dear."

"Please, Erik, I have more than confidence to back that up." The masked man was silent, so as to let her continue. "I know how you were under orders to watch me after the accident, you said so yourself. I know you rescued me, that one night when I took that short cut."

"I was under orders to protect you, it doesn't mean anything."

Christine sighed, "you chose me to be your wife."

"You needed more experience in the field."

"That's not what you said before. I heard from Nadir that Regina has always been your choice for these 'valentine' missions, but you didn't pick her this time. It was me. Why?"

"Christine…"

"Answer the question, Erik."

For a long time, no one moved or spoke a word. There was a strange tension in the room, but it wasn't a violent one. Christine, however, let her frustration get the best of her and she stalked to front door, prying it open. "I want you to leave. I have the profile, I'll cover it tonight."

Erik followed Christine to the door, stopping just in front of the frustrated girl. "Christine, I won't see you before the mission.

Christine bowed her head and closed her eyes as she continued to hold the door open. "its better that way," she said softly, and then turned her head. "Just go."

The masked man placed his hand up against the frame, refusing to be dismissed that way. Christine was assigned an abeyance mission soon, and he knew he wouldn't see her before it. He also knew she wasn't going to come back. He didn't want it to end like this. Erik leaned forward towards the woman, and whispered softly. "Christine, it was because of you."

"What?"

"It was your being around that broke me from what I had done…"

"What did you do?" Christine asked, as she quietly shut the door again. What was this?

Erik looked like he clearly did not want to answer her, but he did anyway. He sighed before continuing, "All the killings, Christine. I first killed when I was twelve; it was how I came into the Section. Then, it just became a way of life for me. I don't even know the reason why it was necessary, all we're ever told is that we're doing this for the 'greater good', whatever that may be," the masked man stopped for a moment, as he padded slowly to the ivory sofa. He sat down on it, grasping his hands together in thought. It was only a moment before Christine joined him, and he stiffened slightly as he felt her next to him. He wet his lips before continuing, "when I was under orders from Operations to protect you, at whatever cost, I saw innocence for the first time. I'm not proud for watching you, Christine, but I promise you I did not violate your privacy. But it was your innocence, your naivety even, that showed me that the world- the people outside of Section- it wasn't as dark and as evil as I had always thought it was."

"Then why are you still here, Erik? What does the Section offer you that you couldn't get anywhere else?" Christine asked softly, as she gently placed her hand over his.

"Acceptance." He said simply before he paused, leaving Christine to assume he was speaking about his face and the mask. Of course, she was right. "I'm deformed, Christine. It's not something I can ever get away from. My own mother hated me from the moment she birthed me, all on account of this face. In Section, no one cares. And if they do, it doesn't matter. We're all treated the same. It doesn't matter who fucks up, we all face the same consequences for our failures. Everyone is just trying to survive. And I certainly did not get to Level 4 because of my looks. I followed orders, and I was good at something- at destroying life I suppose it was. But, it was for the 'greater good', I was told."

Christine blinked a few times, before leaning forward and clasping her own hands together. "Kill ten to save eleven? Does that constitute a greater good to you?"

"It was good enough for me at the time. I'm trying to tell you Christine, that I lived for the Section. It's all I have. That's why, I'm sorry to say, that I couldn't have you threatening it. It's all I could say that I had."

"No, it was all you had. You could have had more, Erik. If you would just stop believing these ridiculous lies you were told you could have lived for something else."

There was a light chuckle to his side, but there didn't seem to be any life in it. "Yes, I suppose I could have."

"Why didn't you-"

Erik held up his hand to interject her question. "I had something, Christine, but I was afraid to admit it because if I didn't, it couldn't be taken away from me like everything else had been," he paused, and Christine swore her heart did for a moment as well. "I didn't think it was enough, because I wanted the whole world along with it, but I didn't think I could have either."

Christine swallowed before she whispered her reply, "What did you want?" It couldn't have been Beatrix… could it? It couldn't have been…

"You."

The first crystalline tear formed in her eye as reached out to his mask. She couldn't quite find her voice yet, but she hoped that he would understand. Her nails went under the edges and she gently removed it, revealing the grotesque face that was hidden beneath the porcelain. Christine placed her hand on the ruined side of his face, and he flinched slightly at her touch. Leaning forward, Christine lightly touched his lips with her own in a gentle, soft kiss. Her mouth was warm and soft against his unyielding one, and against his broken skin. All too quickly, Erik found himself overwhelmed by the sensation and he pulled her body to his, embracing her closely and tightly. "Thank you, Christine," he whispered against her hair as he held her.

Christine returned the embrace with all the lustre he had given her and every few moments ran her hand along his back in an attempt to sooth his sobs. "It's okay now, Erik. It'll be okay."

It won't though, will it?

Erik was the first to pull away, but he did so almost determinedly. Christine was about to question but he quickly placed a finger over her lips to cut her off. "Wait here."

"O-okay,"

Erik disappeared into the small bathroom just adjacent to Christine's bedroom, and came out a minute or two later with a small, silver box. He brought it to her, and set it on the table gently.

"What's this?" Christine asked as she watched him press a tiny button on the side. It opened up, revealing a small gun-like object with a needle protruding from the barrel, and a vial. "Erik…"

The man was silent as he picked it up and attached the vial to the end of it. Erik then turned to Christine. "Do you remember when you first woke up in the white room?"

"Yes."

"It was right after we had injected this tracking device into you. It's just a part of the necessary procedure, it's been given to everyone in Section," he informed her, "lay down."

"Erik, what are you doing?"

"Just trust me. Please."

Christine nodded, and hesitantly did as she was told. She laid across the sofa, watching Erik closely as he used a hand to lift up her sweater slightly to a few inches above her belly button. "Can you hold that there please?" Christine didn't say anything; she only grasped the hem of her sweater and held it where he wanted.

"This might hurt a little bit, I'm sorry," Erik told her as he injected the substance into her stomach. Christine whimpered slightly, and he quietly apologized again for hurting her. After a moment, he told her she could sit up again.

"What was that?"

"It's effectively removed the tracking device, it was disintegrated," he said, grasping her upper arms to help her up.

"Erik, what's going on?"

"I'm letting you go."

"What?"

"You can't go on that mission, Christine. You won't come back."

"It's that the point of abeyance missions?"

"Pack your things, quickly," he cut her off again as she tried to speak, "Quickly, Christine. Pack your clothing, everything you need. Meet me out in the parking lot, at your car in five minutes."

"Erik-"

"Five minutes."

Christine watched as the door closed behind him. "What is going on?" she whispered to herself as she trotted to her bedroom, pulling out two duffel bags to shove all her belongings into. She took a plastic grocery bag from inside the cabinet to all but dump all her photos and frames into. It did not take her long to collect her things as she neared the door and turned around to scope her small apartment for anything she may have missed and left behind.

"The mask," she breathed as she walked over, wrapping the small porcelain object in her coat before leaving her residence for good.

Scoping the parking lot, Christine found her car, and her Erik right beside it, just as he said he would be. It was dark, long after midnight and no one was around, which Christine assumed the man was thankful for. When he saw her he walked forward to meet her almost half way, helping with her bags as together they carried them the short distance to her car. Christine popped the truck open, and watched him as he loaded all her belongings into it. She quickly and silently moved to the passenger side of the car to open the door and gently set the coat onto it. Christine shut the door just as Erik had shut the trunk.

"Here, I have something for you Christine," he said, as he retrieved the briefcase he had placed on the ground for a moment. He set it on the trunk as he opened it to show her, allowing himself a smile at her gasp.

"My God, Erik, there has got to be fifty thousand dollars in there."

"Yes, about that," he said, placing it in the backseat.

"Erik, I can't take that money."

"You'll need it to start a new life, Christine. You're going to need to start from scratch. It's the only way you'll be safe. You'll find a small cellular phone packed away in the case as well, that must be our only method of contact, and even that must be kept to a minimum."

Christine couldn't believe what she was hearing… was he actually helping her escape? "Erik, what about my file? They still have me on the Directory."

"Don't worry, Christine, I'll take care of it. I'll take care of everything, I promise."

Christine shook her head as she placed her hand on his face once more. "Come with me."

"I can't," he replied solemnly, as he leaned into her gentle, forgiving touch. "I can't protect you from the outside. We wouldn't be safe."

"Erik, we'll see eachother again... we have to..." she breathed, softly caressing the ruined side of his face. Again she caught his lips between her own as she curled her fingers in his hair. Erik in turn could do nothing but almost awkwardly wrap his arms around her body.

Christine's hands fell about his neck as the kiss ended, and he continued to hold her as they made their way to the other side of the car. He opened the door for her, and helped her inside. Instead of shutting the door however, he crouched on the ground next to where she sat.

"I'm sorry, Christine, for everything you've been through because of me. Because of something I've done..."

"Erik," she said, continuing to run her fingers through his hair, "it's already been forgiven. I only wish you could come with me." He opened his mouth to reply, but she reached out to press her finger against his lips. She saw another tear form in the corner of his right eye, and as it fell she swiped it gently away with her thumbs. "It's okay now, Erik, it'll be okay," she whispered, giving him an honest smile.

Erik nodded and rose, hesitantly pressing his lips to her forehead. "Get as far away from here as you can, they'll be looking for you soon. Try to get over the border," he breathed against the skin he had just pressed his lips to.

"Right," she replied as he straightened up. Christine placed the keys into the ignition and started up the vehicle. Before he shut the door, she stepped out and grasped his hands in her own. "I'll miss you." He turned his head to the side as she pressed a last kiss to his fingertips.

"Christine," Erik began, barely above a whisper. His voice broke as he continued, "I love you."

She smiled warmly and brought gently patted his hand with her own before letting go. Christine mouthed the words back to him as she seated herself back in her car. Nothing more was said between the two as he closed the door. He watched the woman he loved reverse the car, and drive out of the lot, sparing him one last glance as she disappeared from his sight.

Erik stood there, and a strange sense of peace enveloped him for the first time in his life. Although she was gone, he had something that would forever be his, and the scars that would last forever no longer had the power to hurt him anymore.

It's over now.

Alright, I just want to say a short thank you to all of you who have stuck with me when I was writing this thing. To those who reviewed, it meant alot to get your input and to know that people we're enjoying this thing. I said in the previous chapter that there will be a sequal, but I want to get to other things first before I start that. I'm sorry to say that it probably won't be for a while (watch, now that I've said that I'll probably start writing it anyway, it always happens), so if you want to know when it's up just give me a shout and I'll msg you when I put it up, but the easiest way it just to use the author alert thingy. Anyway, I just want to get this to you, so I'll stop talking. I hope you weren't dissappointed. Thanks again to the reviewers listed below and to those who have this favourited or alerted, you know who you are.

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