Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to Auntie Beeb, The Phantom of the Opera belongs to Sir Webber and Monsieur Leroux

"Here we are then! Luxembourg, 1871! Bit boring, but, well, I could do with some of that."

As soon as the Doctor stepped out of the Tardis, he was greeted by the loud crash of glass. The only other person in the strange, cavernous but splendidly furnished dwelling was too busy to hear anything, as he wildly swung the heavy candelabra again, effectively breaking another mirror.

"Not quite Luxembourg then. Ooh, now, that's a hell of a lot of bad luck!"

The man violently turned at the voice, his face distorted in rage. His hand flew to the right side of his face, hiding it from the Doctor's eyes.

"What?! No matter, whoever you are, just leave me be! Don't look at me! Leave the monster alone!"

"Monster? My dear fellow, I've met plenty of monsters, but I don't see any here."

"Then look at this!" the man snarled and took his hand off his face so the Doctor could see deformity of its right side.

"Oh, that. A simple plastic surgery could fix it, even as early as 1998... or even earlier..." he mused but then suddenly heard voices approaching, shouting for the murderer to be found.

"It would seem we'll have company soon. You'd better hide from those folks, they sound pretty agitated." With that the Doctor turned back to the Tardis, went in and held the door open.

"Come on, quick."

The man hesitated but as the voices got even nearer, he walked to the blue box and stepped in, closing the door.

The moment he looked around himself, he froze.

"What? Who are you? Where am I?" his voice thundered menacingly.

"I'm the Doctor," the Time Lord said with a small wave. "And you are... let me guess – Erik, the Paris Opera Ghost?"

"How do you know who I am?" the man growled, as he slowly approached the Doctor, murderous intent in his wild eyes.

Unruffled, the Doctor quipped, "Ooh, I know a lot of things. Lived long, me, seen a lot. Oh, by the way, you're in the Tardis, my ship, and yes, it's bigger on the inside."

"But that's impossible! What trick is this?!"

"Hmmm, I wouldn't call dimensional transcendentalism a trick, although I suppose it is, in a way. See, the interior exists in a different dimension to the exterior. It's as simple as that."

Erik nodded slowly, a small flicker of admiration finding its way to his eyes.

"You, Monsieur, are a genius!"

"Naah, not really."

For a moment they stood in silence, then Erik frowned angrily again.

"What is it you want with the monster, Monsieur?" he asked coldly.

"I told you I don't see any monsters around. Now, you should see the Slitheen, that's what I call a monster! Wanted to blow the Earth up, and boy, did they fart! The weeping angels were good, very clever disguise!"

"Is that so, Monsieur? Then how would you explain that the only woman I've ever loved fled from me to the hands of her handsome lover?" he sneered venomously.

A shadow flew across the Doctor's face, the memory of Rose on the desolate beach, kissing his clone, still too fresh before his eyes.

"Believe me, Erik, losing your love doesn't mean you should give up."

"It is easy for you to say, you are not cursed as I am!" Erik clenched his teeth, the effort of holding back his angry tears becoming more and more unbearable. But he was damned if he cried in front of the strange man before him. At that moment, he looked in his eyes, and almost reeled. So much pain and suffering in those brown orbs, ages older than the face they adorned!

"Forgive me, Monsieur. Do not listen to the ravings of a wretched madman."

"Nonsense, my dear fellow!" Back to his bouncy self, the Doctor began pressing buttons and pushing levers on the console, then went to Erik and slapped his back in a friendly manner, leaving the distraught man flabbergasted for a moment.

"Now, Erik, this ship travels in time, as well as in space. Fancy a trip? Anywhere you want!"

"Anywhere? Is there anywhere where this," Erik gestured to his face with a bitter grimace, "won't be met with horror and disgust?? I tell you, Monsieur, such a place does not exist!"

"I could always take you to the fifty-first century for laser surgery if your face bothers you so much... As long as we don't meet Jack, you'll be okay. Somehow I think you're quite his type."

On Erik's face hope and doubt were fighting for dominance.

"I can have a normal face... normal life?"

"Yep," answered the Doctor, popping the final sound.

"But who are you, Monsieur, with your... ship and your eyes, older than your face?"

"Oh, I'm just a traveller. You know, I go here and there, meet people..."

Erik's eyes burned as they met the Doctor's.

"There's much more to you than meets the eye, Monsieur. But I shan't pry in your affairs. If you know a place where I can be healed, where the monster can turn into a man... take me there!"

"Off we go then!" the Doctor pressed yet more buttons and pushed a few more levers.

"Blimey, she's nearly out of fuel... We'll have to stop in Cardiff on our way, after all. Hopefully we'll avoid Jack somehow. We'll load up, then be on our way."

Erik hesitated.

"Monsieur..."

"Oh, call me just Doctor, okay?"

"Doctor... do you have any musical instruments on your ship?"

"Oh, yes," grinned the Doctor. "Come with me!"

As soon as the man saw the grand royal in the music room, his eyes took a calmer look and a tiny gleam of pleasure shone in them. He sat on the royal and his fingers touched the keys gently, reverently. Soon soft, sad notes floated in the air and the Doctor stopped to listen. Erik looked completely oblivious to anything but the music, but after a few moments a pained sob escaped his lips and he lowered his head in his hands, weeping broken-heartedly.

"I cannot escape her... she is everywhere... even in my music... I am denied my only solace... Oh, Christine! Why?!"

The Doctor hesitated, not sure what to do, but then strode to the sobbing man and put a hand on his shoulder. Erik froze instantly but before he could say anything, the Doctor spoke softly.

"My home planet is gone... It burned. I am the last of my people and I am 904 years old. A few days ago, I left someone very precious to me on an empty beach with... another man who loved her, a man she had a future with. That was the second time I lost her. Then I had to erase all memories of myself from the mind of the best friend I've ever had, to protect her from death... Erik... Believe me, I've known pain, I've lived with it for a long time. The only thing that keeps me going is that I can help people, make things better for them. Somehow I've managed to save many people, whole worlds from extinction... It doesn't take the pain away, but it does make its burden lighter. You, you can still have a future. You can still have all the joys of life. I can't, because every time I get close to someone, they're taken from me in the end. But there is still hope for you..."

Erik lifted his damp face and looked at the Doctor.

"Your eyes... so much feeling... Doctor, forgive me..." with that he stood up and embraced the Time Lord. The two stood like that for what seemed like ages, each taking solace in the presence of the other. When Erik broke the hug, his expressive celadon eyes were shining with emotion.

"If you help me, Doctor, I shall live my life for you. And I shall tell the world about you, with my music."

"Naaah, no need for that! Just have a good life. That'll do for me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to do a few calibrations. We're almost there, I just need to make sure I don't meet myself, you know, tricky stuff, time-travelling!"

With that he left Erik to his own thoughts but it didn't last long. The Doctor soon dashed in again and ushered him to the control room.

"Alonsy! We're in Cardiff! Now, we've got to wait for the Tardis to fuel up, but meanwhile -"

Before he could go on, a very handsome young man with bright blue eyes burst in.

"Here you are, Doctor! Ooooh, who's the other pretty boy?"

"No, Jack, no, just stop there!"

In the next chapter - Captain Jack meets Erik :D