Erik glanced over the pages of the book at Mia. He had explained to her what Charcot had told him, and how he was hoping to use hypnotism to help her deal with Amelia. She had readily agreed, but Erik was reluctant to interfere with her and Amelia's memories while she was dealing with a concussion. And because of that concussion, Mia was sensitive to loud sounds, specifically his music. Mia had been impressed with his collection of poetry, and since she loved it so, he was reading some to her.

Mia's eyes grew heavy at the sound of his melodic voice. Erik found that poetry rolled off his tongue just as easily as song did. It took almost no effort for his voice to be hypnotic. While he didn't want to interfere with her memories, he was too impatient to see if he could use hypnotism to cause Mia and Amelia to switch back and forth like Charcot said. He wasn't sure he could accomplish that only putting her into a light hypnosis, but he was too afraid of putting Mia into a deep trance and her not waking up to try.

When she developed that familiar blank stare, Erik wordlessly put the book aside and moved his chair a little closer to her side. "Mia," he said. She turned to look at him, still under his spell. "Mia, I need to talk to Amelia. I need you to let her take control."

She blinked, and instantly Erik knew that Amelia was indeed in control and she was not under hypnosis like he had hoped. "You bastard!" she screamed. Erik leaped backwards as she lunged at him. Amelia pushed herself out of bed and stood toe to toe with him, even though he was a good head taller than her. "You have the audacity to say you care about Mia and then you go and strike me like that!"

Control yourself, Erik reminded himself. You cannot hurt her. Not again. "I didn't mean it. Honestly, Amelia, I lost my temper but I did not mean for you to get hurt. I am sorry."

Amelia hit his chest. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." She began to pound her fists against his chest repeatedly, sarcastically saying, "I'm sorry" with every blow.

"Stop it," Erik hissed, grabbing her wrists. He exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself and maintain control of his temper before he hurt her again. "I know apologies don't change the past, but I do regret my actions."

"That changes nothing!" Amelia snarled. "Do you think that your words mean anything to me? You're a manipulator and a liar! You might have Mia fooled, but you will never trick me!"

Erik nearly snapped at Amelia, telling her that he had been nothing but honest with her, but he stopped himself. He realized honesty, while working with Mia, got him nowhere with Amelia. Maybe a little trickery was exactly what he needed. "ENOUGH!" he roared to be heard over her accusations.

For a split second, there was a flicker of fear in her eyes, enough so that he thought Mia took control, if only for a moment. That renewed his hope of being able to bring the two together. But at the same time, she cringed at his loud voice, her hands flew up to her ears, and her knees buckled. He immediately let go of her wrists and caught her in his arms as she slumped to the floor. "My head," she moaned.

"Easy now," Erik said as he put his hand under her knees, picked her up, and put her back in bed. "We don't want you to hurt yourself further. You hit your head earlier."

"And whose fault is that?" she asked, staring at him with disdain.

"I know it's my fault," Erik said as gently as he could. "But as I told you, I didn't mean for you to get hurt. You have to believe me."

She glared at him. "Well I don't."

He let out a sigh of frustration. "Fine, don't believe me. At this point, I don't even care anymore. But if this is how you're going to be, I'm willing to make a deal with you."

That immediately grabbed her attention. Her eyes glittered with interest, but he could tell she was trying to keep herself in check. "What kind of a deal?" she asked, pushing herself into a sitting position.

Erik sat in the chair beside her and leaned forward so that he was looking her in the eyes. "If you cooperate with me, I'll let you go."

Her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. Erik knew he had offered her the one thing Amelia wanted most. She bit the inside of her cheek deep in thought for a long while. "Define cooperate," Amelia said slowly.

"You allow me to try and help you and Mia through hypnosis."

"I don't want your 'help'!"

"Maybe you don't," Erik replied. "But Mia does."

Amelia gave him a dirty look. "I don't trust Mia's judgment."

"And I don't trust yours," he snapped back. "So do we have a deal?"

She stared at him suspiciously. "So if I allow you to hypnotize me, you'll let me go? That seems too good to be true. What are you going to do if I say yes? What are you going to do to me while I'm under your control? I don't think so Monsieur," she said coldly.

Suddenly Erik was elsewhere. "Christine! Christine! Listen to me! Whatever you may believe, this man, this thing, is not your father! Let her go, for God's sake let her go! Christine!"

The young soprano turned away from the Phantom, her former Angel of Music, freed from his spell. "Raoul!" she screamed, running into her lover's arms.

"I can't make you do anything you don't want to," Erik said, pulling himself out of the memory. "Even if you're under hypnosis."

Amelia was quite for a very long time. He could see her struggling to make a decision. "No," she finally announced.

Erik was crushed but he kept his face blank. He was hoping he could get her to cooperate. "Fine. Then you can rot here for all I care," he snapped, before he turned and started to walk away. It was his last card, and a weak one at that, but Erik was hoping Amelia's desire to return to her life was great enough that she wouldn't dare call his bluff.

"Wait!" Amelia cried. Erik paused, waiting for her to continue. "If you promise to let me go, I'll let you do it. Once."

His lips turned upwards into a smirk, but he was careful not to let Amelia see. It seemed as though his gamble had paid off. "Very well, you have my word."

"Mia!"

Her eyes snapped open and she gasped. Erik was holding her down, pinning her shoulders to the bed. Her heartbeat was racing and she tried to catch her breath. "What happened Erik?" she asked. "Did it work?"

"You started thrashing around," Erik replied as he sat back. "I was afraid you were going to accidentally hurt yourself."

"I…I had a nightmare," Mia admitted.

"A nightmare?" Erik repeated. He sounded confused. "That isn't possible, you weren't asleep."

"It has to be possible," she countered. "How else do you explain it? It was so real. You and I were fighting and then…" Her voice trailed off. "If it wasn't a nightmare what else was it? It wasn't a mem-" No, that wasn't possible. Erik…Erik wouldn't…. She stared at him in horror.

"What is it?" he asked. "Mia, what's wrong?"

She pushed herself out of bed, crashing to the floor when her unsteady legs gave out. Mia used the chair beside the bed to pull herself to her feet and half walked, half stumbled over to the covered mirror, still dizzy from her concussion. Ignoring Erik's protests, she grabbed the curtain and pulled it down as she fell again. Her eyes tripled in size as she saw her reflection and her hand moved up to the ugly bruise on her cheek. "Oh my God," Mia whispered.

Erik was beside her in an instant. "Mia, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," he started. She stared wordlessly at her reflection as he let out a stream of apologies.

"It wasn't a nightmare," Mia said numbly. She turned to look at him with wide eyes. "It was a memory."