Thank you to my lovely reviewers- it is to you that I dedicate this chapter.

No one noticed the young- twenty something woman steal away from rehearsals- she was dressed in a white practice skirt, tights and ballet slippers; her auburn hair was pulled back in a high bun. She slipped down one of the lesser used corridors and stopped as her sharp grey eyes picked up movement in the shadows.

"You wanted to see me?" The young woman asked quietly

"Yes Anne" a young man's voice replied from the shadows. "I found something in the cellar earlier this evening- something that I have no use for; I thought that you and your husband may find a home for it."

"What is it Erik?" Anne asked. "I will need to see this thing before I make my decision"

A chuckle followed from the being in the shadows and a young boy of no more than fourteen stepped from the darkness. He wore a black fedora hat pulled low over his face and a black great coat over a pair of poorly tailored grey trousers. In his arms was cradled a bundle about the size of a human child.

"See for yourself"

Anne took the bundle and parted it- her jaw dropped. "A baby? In the cellar?"

"I heard it crying about an hour ago" Erik nodded. "It doesn't seem to be scared of me- which is unusual; on the contrary, it quieted as soon as I picked it up- fell asleep on the way up here"

"It's not an 'it' Erik" Anne shook her head, not taking her eyes off the slumbering infant in her arms. "Pink clothing on a baby generally marks it as being a girl. But why did you bring her to me?"

"You did say that you and Jules were trying to conceive- I thought to save you the trouble. This way you can keep dancing; I enjoy watching you, you know"

"You give me a foundling child simply so I wouldn't stop dancing when I become pregnant?" Anne arched an eyebrow

"No" was Erik's reply. "I give you the baby because I wouldn't know what to do with one and you are the only person in this Theatre worthy of my trust."

Anne would have protested if it weren't for a small hand closing around her finger. The ballerina made the mistake of looking down at the child in her arms- into a pair of large and inquiring mismatched eyes. Madame Antionette Giry smiled down at her daughter and cradled her close to her breast.

There was someone in his house.

He had come home from a little early morning shopping- there was a special occasion on the horizon which he needed to prepare for- to find a trail of small muddy footprints leading towards his spare bedroom. Only one person ever trailed through his house in bare feet. Only one person knew that she'd get away with it without incurring his wrath.

He rolled his eyes but was already warring with the customary smile that visits like this brought to his lips. He silently followed the footprints.

There she was sitting cross legged on the bed, playing with his cat. Her pretty blonde locks were restrained in two plaits; tied with white ribbons- a new attempt by her mother to prevent bedhead.

"Do you not think it a little early to be paying a man visits?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe as he watched her tickle Ayesha's cream belly.

She looked up at him with her typical charming smile- her eyes lighting up. "Bonjour Monsieur Erik"

"Bonjour Little Pixie" Erik replied. "What may I do for you today?"

"I-uh" she faltered, averting her mismatched eyes. "It was that nasty dream again"

"Ah Meg" he shook his head. "You know that your mother doesn't like you coming down here alone."

"But it was the nasty dream" the six year old protested. "Where the horrible things stole me away"

"Pixie" he settled himself on the bed and, as normal, she crawled into his lap. "You know that I will never let anything steal you away"

She buried her little face in his coat and he rubbed her back. This happened each and every time she had that one dream. Well, it had since she'd been able to walk properly- before that her extremely harassed mother had been forced to bring her down to see him. Strangely he was the only one who could calm her.

"Pixie" He raised her head and gently with one finger under her chin- her pale cheeks were snail trailed with tears. "Nobody defies the Opera Ghost, you know that"

"Cept me" she offered him a wet version of the very grin which had earned her her pet-name.

"Except you Pixie" he agreed pressing a gentle kiss to her tip tilted little nose.

She yawned and snuggled closer to him, he caught a whiff of that underlying smell of peaches that she'd always had about her. "Come, we must get you back before we get in trouble with your mother"

She nodded drowsily and he carried her back up to the Opera House. Her pale gold head rested on his shoulder and her breathing was deep and steady.

Antionette Giry was sitting on her daughter's bed when Erik carried the sleeping child through the secret passage.

"Before you say a word Anne" Erik interrupted the ballet mistress as she opened her mouth to reprimand him. "She was in my house when I returned from running an errand in the city"

"The nightmare again" Antionette sighed. "Poor lamb. I wish I knew what happened to her family."

"What I wish I knew is why I am the only one who can sooth her when her demons come for her" Erik laid the sleeping Meg in her little bed.

"Erik"

"Oui?"

"I'm bringing a child of an old friend of Jules' to stay in the theatre- her father is dying and the child has potential to be great."

"Oh?" Erik arched his one visible eyebrow.

"She will be sharing this room until the two of them are old enough to join the Corps de Ballet"

Erik nodded curtly. "I shall bare that in mind, good morning Antionette"

With that he swept from the little bedroom.

So what did you think?

This chapter was really just to set up a relationship between Meg and Erik- the real story starts with the next chapter- 'Hannable and What Followed'

Please R&R

Until next time I remain

Your Authoress

M.V

I: Foundling