Erik couldn't stand it any longer. He had to get Mia away, and he was going to do it tonight. His shoulder, while not fully healed, was far enough along that he was willing to risk it. Leaving Mia with Gaston was dangerous, and he knew it, and Erik needed to get Mia out of there.

Under the cover of darkness, Erik made his way to the address he had found in the opera house's records. It was a large estate and Erik lamented having to search the whole premises undetected, before remembering that Mia had escaped by climbing down a tree. He found an old oak out back that went right next to the house, just perfect for getting in and out.

He hissed in pain as he climbed up the tree. It was highly possibly he had overestimated his shoulder's ability to function, but he could worry about that once Mia was safe. Erik reached the window, wiped away the frost, and peered in. His brow furrowed as he realized the room was empty. But he was certain it was Mia's room, her poetry book was sitting beside the bed. Where could she be? It was the middle of the night!

It seemed that he was going to have to go through the house looking for Mia, but getting her back safely was worth the risk. Erik reached out to open the window, but it wouldn't budge. After rattling it a moment, he realized it was latched shut. "Of course it is, you fool," Erik muttered to himself as he shook it one last time, hoping to produce different results. "It's February. No one in their right mind would open a window."

There was another window down a different branch. It would be close, but if he was careful, maybe he could at least get a glimpse inside, and if he was lucky, that one would be open. Erik carefully inched his way over to the window, mindful of the fact the branch was thinning and wouldn't support his weight if he made any sudden movements. Slowly, Erik reached out and grabbed the windowsill and peered in.

The room clearly belonged to a man, and one who didn't spend a whole lot of time in it. Everything he could see was of the finest quality, but it was sparsely furnished. However, Erik's attention was on the bed. Mia was on the side closest to him, and he could see on her face she wasn't sleeping well. Her brow was furrowed, and her face was contorted, as though she was deeply troubled.

Unfortunately the window was locked here too. He tapped the window, trying to wake her and get her attention. Mia stirred slightly, but buried her face in the pillow. Erik knocked again, a little louder this time. But a shape he hadn't noticed behind Mia moved. Erik swore and ducked down when he realized he had woken Gaston instead of Mia. He was going to have to come back tomorrow night.

And he did come the next night.

And the next night.

And the night after that.

And the one after that.

Gaston seemed to have Mia under constant supervision. Why? he wondered. Does he know Mia tried to leave him? Erik had even tried to get her away during the day a couple of times, but Mia was never alone. She always had her maid by her side, and whenever she needed something, Mia would call another servant instead of having her maid do it. The only explanation Erik could come up with was that it was Gaston's orders. But sooner or later, Mia would have to be alone, even for a minute or two, and once that happened, Erik was going to smuggle her away.

Mia was waiting desperately for a sign from Erik, even just something telling her that he was alive. During the past few weeks, she was certain she was suffocating here, being guarded all the time. She could tell that something was going on between Gaston and Violet, as he barely spent any time at the Populaire anymore. The end of his affair was quickly becoming the bane of her existence. He was angry and irritable and her only protection was the baby that he thought was his.

However, the more time passed, the more Mia became more certain that the child in her womb belonged to Erik. The timing just didn't match up, no matter how she did it, and all Mia could do was pray that Gaston didn't think too hard about it.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Her head snapped up as she realized that Gaston was standing over her. His arms were crossed and he did not look amused. "I'm sorry darling," Mia said quickly. "My head was in the clouds. Could you repeat that?"

Gaston scowled. "I said I have some business to attend to in Normandy. I'm leaving within the hour and I'll be back in four days." Mia nodded, not doubting him at all. She had figured out that when he was sneaking around with his mistress, his time frames were vaguer: a few weeks, before the end of the week, a couple days. When he was actually going on business, Gaston was extremely specific. "Hazel is to be by your side until I return."

Repressing a sigh, Mia nodded. "If that's what you want darling." She kissed his cheek. "Have a safe trip. Come home soon."

As soon as he left the room, Mia leaned back and let out the sigh. She was a prisoner in her own home and she felt like she was destined to die here. Gaston hadn't let her out of the house since the Raoul incident, and Mia was certain she was losing what was left of her mind.

Later that night Mia was alone for the first time in weeks. Despite Gaston's orders, Hazel didn't really put up much of a fight when Mia told her to go home to her own husband. It seemed everyone was sick of this.

She opened the window and let the cold winter air rush around her. Mia stared at the branch, and for a brief moment considered trying to climb down again. But she was beginning to show in the past couple days and she was terrified of falling again. If she lost the baby, Gaston would destroy her. With a sigh, Mia closed the window and climbed into bed. There was nothing she could do but hang on to the fleeting hope that Erik would come for her.

Erik was back for he didn't even know how many nights in a row, praying he could get to Mia tonight. His relatively healed shoulder was stiff and sore from climbing the tree every single night but he didn't know his way through the house and he was afraid of running into someone while trying to get in, or more importantly, getting out.

He reached Mia's window and couldn't believe his eyes. She was actually in her room and alone! Erik had been losing hope, but none of that mattered now. He reached out to try the window, and to his surprise, it actually opened, like she had been expecting him.

Silent as a shadow, Erik slipped into the room and made his way to Mia's side. He gently caressed her cheek, but she woke with a start, and he clamped his hand over her mouth so she didn't cry out and accidentally wake someone. "It's me," he said softly, releasing her and gently brushing her hair from her face. "We need to leave now."

Mia blinked a couple of times, as though to make sure she was truly awake. "You're…you're here?" she asked in surprise.

"I promised you I'd come." She sat up slowly, and Erik noticed she wasn't nearly as slim as she was the last time he had seen her. In fact, her stomach was clearly beginning to round. "Mia?"

"It's not yours. I'm too far along for it to be yours."

Her tone stung, but Erik brushed it aside. She was a married woman after all. He knew that going in to their relationship. Sure, he had assumed that with Gaston having an affair with Violet that he wouldn't touch Mia, but Erik knew that he really had no right to be jealous. "Come on," he said, extending his hand to her. "We can worry about that later but we need to get away while we still have the chance."

Mia shook her head. "No. I have to stay here. Its Gaston's child, and the baby needs its father."

"We don't have time for this Mia," Erik snapped. "If we're going to get away, we need to leave now."

"I've made up my mind. I'm not going. I'm sorry, but the baby needs its real father. We can't keep doing this. I need to stay here where I belong."

"How many times have we had this fight?" Erik reminded her. "As soon as you're free from Gaston, you'll realize that leaving is the right decision."

"My mind is made up. Now go. We can't see each other anymore."

"Not without you."

"If you don't leave, I'll scream."

Erik rolled his eyes. She had tried pulling this stunt at the masquerade. "We both know you-" He was suddenly cut off by an ear-shattering shriek.

"Madame Barineau is everything alright?"

"The man who kidnapped me, he was here! I saw him! He came back for me!"

"Please Madame, with the window open you'll catch your death of cold. It was just a nightmare, no one is here. You're perfectly safe."

Mia was exhausted and she felt even worse. The servants had told her she had a nightmare where the masked man came back to kidnap her, and her screaming had woken everyone up. For a time, she had thought Erik had tried to come for her, but the servants were insisted that there was no sign of anyone anywhere and that she had thrown open the window in her hysterics. She had apologized endlessly, but she couldn't remember a thing. It must have been Amelia's nightmare.

But until Erik came back to rescue her, she was is utter hell. Weeks dragged into months with no sign of the Phantom. Gaston was back and worse than ever. She was visibly pregnant now and the baby was her sole shield. But with his affair with Violet ended, there was nothing to distract him from her and every little thing she did displeased him for one reason or another.

"Amelia!" she heard him shout one day as she was about to go downstairs to the parlor to read. "What the hell have you done?"

"I don't understand darling, what's wrong?"

He scowled at her. "Apparently all of Paris now believes the former Prima Donna and I had an affair, and she was just found today in a puddle of blood after drinking arsenic. It seems she was nearly full term with child, and since she's not married, the whole city is speculating it was mine. What kind of lies are you perpetuating?"

"Poor thing, is she okay?"

"That's beside the point! How dare you spread such filth about me?"

Mia shook her head. "I haven't told anyone anything. I told you months ago when I caught you with that ballerina that all of Paris knew about the affair. You just weren't as subtle as you thought!"

Gaston was livid. "I will not stand for such insolence from my wife!" he screamed, lashing out at her. The next thing Mia knew, she was scrambling to catch hold of the bannister as Gaston watched from the top of the steps in horror.

The Phantom of the Opera was back and meaner than ever. Anything short of perfection had disastrous consequences and the whole opera house lived in fear. Erik had nothing left. Erik was gone. Only the Phantom remained now.

"Did you hear what happened at the Barineau house?" he heard a couple of aristocratic women whispering before the performance.

"No what?"

"Apparently his wife tripped and fell down the steps!"

"Isn't she with child?"

"I heard that it caused her to go into labor prematurely. A little tiny thing like that would have a hard time with normal childbirth, let alone this. It'll be a miracle if she survives."

"Well no wonder Gaston isn't here, the poor man. I wonder what he'll do now."

Before he even realized what he was doing, Erik was sprinting through the Parisian streets. His precious Mia was dying because of him. He should have taken her away while he still had the chance all those months ago. He was so angered and her by her words that he had forced himself to stay away and now he was going to have to live with that mistake for the rest of his life.

Hey guys sorry about the wait, I've just been so busy with school I haven't had the time to write. Also, I'm sorry this chapter is kind of very rushed but I've got finals just around the corner and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer than necessary. Thank you for your patience. Read and review!

~nibblesfan