Katja wondered where on earth Erik was. Fredrick and the rest of her family were supposed to be coming to dinner that night, and if he wasn't back by the time they got here, things would be very, very bad. She could only continue the housework and wait for him to return.

She finished folding the laundry she had washed the day before and walked into the bedroom and began putting them away. Tucked away in the corner of one of Erik's drawers was a small dingy, white object. Katja pulled it out and realized it was a crudely sewn toy. A monkey to be exact. She remembered seeing gypsy children with similar toys when she was imprisoned. Why would Erik have this? He wasn't exactly the sentimental type.

After placing the stuffed monkey back where she found it, Katja made her way to the kitchen to begin preparing dinner. She got to work chopping vegetables and placed them in a pan to cook. She turned and nearly stepped on Ayesha. "I'm sorry," she told the kitten as she scooped her up and placed her in the sitting room. "But I can't be tripping over you every five minutes." Ayesha mewed indignantly, but curled into a ball on the sofa to settle down for a nap.

Once the cat was out of the way, Katja returned the kitchen and resumed cooking. She hummed softly as she worked. Every so often, she would turn and look to see if Erik had returned yet, but was disappointed each time. All she could do was hope that he would come home soon.

Finally she heard the front door open. "There you are," Katja sighed in relief as she stirred the vegetables in the pan. "I was starting to worry about you." She waited for his response, but didn't get any.

Instead Katja could hear Ayesha hiss loudly. Ayesha adored Erik and would never hiss at him. That wasn't Erik out there. "Fredrick?" she called. "Is that you?" Nothing. "Is this your idea of a joke? Because I'm not laughing." Still no answer. "Really? I'm not falling for this twice Fredrick."

It was that moment that Katja realized there was something horribly wrong. Her husband and brother would have answered her by now, joke or not. They didn't want to stress her out and risk hurting the baby.

Ayesha gave a sudden yowl as the door to the kitchen flew open. Katja let out a shrill scream when she saw who was on the other side. The gypsy lunged at her, but Katja's hand fell on the handle of the knife she had placed aside earlier. Acting on sheer instinct, she swung the weapon at him. He roared in rage and pain as the blade left a deep cut down his arm.

Using the gypsy's pain to her advantage, Katja dropped the knife and ran out the backdoor. She had nearly made it to the lake shore, but her legs were knocked from beneath her. She landed hard on her stomach, causing her to cry out in pain and fear for the baby. When she looked behind her, Katja saw, much to her horror, the other gypsy had tackled her. "No!" she screamed desperately, trying to wiggle free. "Erik! Erik, help me!"

The gypsy that was in the house approached the two. "Alright, Cato, let her up. I don't think she's going anywhere right now." The one called Cato stood and pulled Katja to her feet while the other one let his eyes roam Katja's body. "Well, well, well, someone's been busy," he said, reaching to rub her stomach mockingly.

"Let me go," she whimpered. "Please, I'm begging you." Katja tried to break away to run, but his grip was just too strong. "Erik!"

"Katja!" She couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. Erik would save her. He always did and always would. The gypsy before her backhanded her hard across the face and everything went black.

Erik headed home, feeling guilty. He shouldn't have snapped at Katja. It wasn't her fault. She didn't know anything about his childhood, so he had no right at being angry with her for bringing it up. He was going to beg for her forgiveness and hope she was willing to give it to him.

He opened the front door and walked in the house. "Katja," he called. Much to his surprise, he didn't receive an answer. Was she giving him the silent treatment or did she just not hear him? "Katja, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper." The house remained silent.

An acrid smell filled the air. Erik ran into the kitchen but Katja was nowhere to be found. A pan of vegetables on the stove had caught fire, producing the smell. He pulled the pan from the stove and placed it in the sink to put out on the fire.

Lying on the floor was a bloody knife. His heart stopped as he stared at it for a moment in horror. "Katja!" he shouted. "Katja where are you?!"

A distant scream reached his ears. "Erik! Erik, help me!" He took off running out the back door. "Erik!" she screamed again.

"Katja!" he shouted in response. On the shore of the lake, was Katja who was unconscious in the arms of a gypsy. "No!" he cried.

The gypsy pulled a knife from his belt and pressed it against Katja's throat. "Don't take another step," he ordered. Erik growled in frustration but didn't move. He wasn't about to do anything to risk Katja's life.

"Let her go," he ordered.

"Or what?" the gypsy demanded. "You're not in a position to be bargaining."

Erik glared at him. "Let her go and I might let you live." Before the gypsy responded, something hard and heavy slammed into the back of his head.

"That's for breaking my nose," Cato snarled as the masked man collapsed. He tossed the branch that he used to subdue the man aside, then looked up at his brother. "What now?"

"What now?" Garridan repeated. "Now we take her and get the hell out of here," he explained as he bound the girl's wrists and tossed her onto his horse.

"We're taking her with?" Cato cried.

"Of course we are! We didn't put all this work into this for nothing."

"But…but look at her. She's pregnant! What good is she to us now?"

Garridan shrugged. "Temporary problem that's easily solvable. Now come on, we have to take care of him." He paused and considered the man for a moment. "Wait a bit. I know that face." He knelt and ripped the porcelain mask off. "Well, well, well, look who we've got here Cato!"

Cato grew closer and when he saw the man's face, his eyes grew wide. "Hey, isn't that the Devil's Child?"

"Indeed that is," his brother replied, tucking the mask away in his coat. "I think we just found Javert's killer. And I think we should repay the favor." Garridan planted his foot in the unconscious man's side and kicked him into the lake. They stood for a moment and watched his body disappear under the water. "Now let's get out of here. "