Disclaimer: don't own it.

So here it is new and improved at least the beginning dialog between erik and meg is.

Erik didn't know what had prompted him to tell her his name. He shouldn't have. He was beginning to embark down a path that was best left alone. He didn't do well with friends. He hadn't ever had any really except Christine and she'd abandoned him. But oddly he couldn't stop himself from wanting to talk to Meg and watch her dance. She'd said he'd given her back her dancing but equally she'd given him back his music.

"What are you thinking so hard about? You scrunch your face up when you think. You shouldn't do that. You'll give yourself wrinkles." Meg told him as she walked over to him and unthinkingly she placed her thumb over the crease on his forehead and rubbed it gently. She stopped when she felt Erik stiffen.

"Sorry. I just…you…sorry." Meg said lamely not really knowing what to say at all. She thought he was afraid that she was going to remove his mask.

"It's fine. I'm just not used to being touched. And what would something as simple as a wrinkle to do my already macabre face." Erik said stiffly. "Is there something you need?" He asked rudely.

Meg sighed. She didn't know how to react to him. He blew so hot and cold and Meg had decided that she wanted to be positive and productive.

"I was just going to ask if you could play something so that I can dance again. Dancing makes me feel free and gives me peace." Meg confessed.

"Peace?" The Erik scoffed at her idea. "That's something that only exists in the realm of fairy stories."

"You might be right. When I dance it's only fleeting. Almost as if I could reach out and grab it, but it always steps just outside my reach. As soon as I stop dancing it's gone. So maybe you're right. Maybe it's all a fantasy." Meg reluctantly agreed with Erik's idea with a shrug.

"At least you are able to find peace at all." He mumbled before he stood quickly and walked over to a glass of water that was setting on a table nearby.

"Poor Erik. There is no solace for you in your music?" Meg asked hesitantly, afraid that she was overstepping the bounds of their relationship.

"I used to." Erik said and Meg automatically assumed he meant when it had been music for Christine, but he surprised her when he continued, "When I first began writing music, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever felt, but now…it's just formulaic. I write what comes next logically."

"This song you've written lately is the most beautiful music I've ever heard. I refuse to believe that it is all about logic." Meg told him solemnly. Erik stared at her softly, thinking about what she'd said. She was right. His music lately had been different. Ever since…ever since Meg arrived he'd written differently, he thought. He looked at her. The innocence surrounding her was palpable. He hated and was drawn to it at the same time. His emotions were a complicated brew and he didn't know what was going on. Christine had never made him feel this way. He didn't want to examine that too closely at this moment.

"Thank you, but no. I will not be playing any more music for you today. There is something I have to attend to. I'll be gone for most of the evening."

"Oh. Is it evening? I can't even tell anymore being down here all the time. What do you have to do?" Meg asked curiously and instantly wanted to know exactly what it was that Erik was doing.

"Nothing that is important to you. Don't try and escape again or I'll be forced to lock you in your room." He warned her.

"I told you that I'm not going to try and escape again. I have no reason to. There's nothing left for me up there." Meg moved to sit on a chair across from him.

"So you stay with me because you have nothing better." Erik said, feeling angry and hurt and hating himself for it.

"Well I don't have anything. My mom is crazy. I have no friends." Meg was careful not to mention Christine's name. "And you're interesting." Meg was scared to say to much, to reveal things that she didn't want him to know.

"I'm a circus freak for you to gawk at you mean?"

"I didn't say that. I said that you are interesting. Interesting. You know, fun to talk to, good company. You understand the things in my past. But don't be so sensitive; I'm just trying to be honest with you."

Erik stared at her for a long time before he spoke. "Why aren't you scared of me anymore? The girl who came here was frightened to death of the Opera Ghost."

Meg smiled softly. "At first i was scared of you but then you saved my life. Besides I had nothing to lose. You weren't going to let me escape so then I figured that if we are going to live together we should at least talk. And like you said, if you'd wanted me dead you would have let me die."

"You are such a child." Erik said it without malice, just a statement but somehow Meg was deeply wounded by it. She didn't know what to say. She suddenly felt herself holding back tears.

"I'll be back in a few hours." Erik told her before he got up and left.

Meg went into the area that she now considered as her dancing room. She began dancing when the Phantom left and hours later Meg was still dancing. She remembered a song that she used to dance to all the time and imagined it playing over and over. She was exhausted but she didn't want to stop. When she danced she was free. Free of the world, of her insane mother, of the fickly phantom, and of her fair weather friends. No she couldn't stop dancing. That night she danced until she literally fell down with exhaustion and fell asleep on the floor.

Erik once again watched Meg dance. He began to worry about her because she looked utterly exhausted. When she fell to the floor he had to stop himself from running over to her. After she had been asleep for about 10 minutes he allowed himself to walk over to her. His cape billowed out behind him as he approached her and bent slowly to pick her up. He carried her to her bedroom and deposited her on the bed before pulling the covers up over her.

He began to think about what had occurred earlier while he was out. He'd gone to see Madame Giry and inform her that her daughter was unharmed but was his prisoner of sorts. Much to his disappointment Madame Giry was not alone. Christine and Raoul were with her. They were all sitting together talking. He listened at the window.

"The Phantom. He has Meg." Madame Giry told Christine and Raoul.

Christine smiled condescendingly. "That isn't possible."

"Yes. He has her. She has been gone for at least two weeks. I told her to return his mask to him and now I haven't seen her. I went to talk to the new owners and they told me that she was not there. I know she is though."

"Madame is it possible your daughter has just gone on a small trip? She has been working very hard lately. I'm sure she's fine, off somewhere relaxing and sleeping the days away. She'll return in time." Raoul told her comfortingly.

"Yes. Meg always has been an adventurer. You remember. She's probably just found herself a nice little vacation place. If she hasn't retuned soon we'll send some people to find her, won't we Raoul?" Christine looked at Raoul lovingly.

"Yes. We will." He told her as he kissed her lightly on the cheek.

That was when Erik had to turn away and not look anymore. He ran from Madame Giry's house back to the opera. He was in a fit as he'd arrived but at the sight of Meg's fanatical dancing he'd forgotten his anger only to be entranced by Meg's grace. He glanced at the woman who lay in the bed. She was gorgeous but more there was more than that. He knew she was intelligent and loving. All the things that he didn't deserve but had always wanted to possess.

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