The look in Erik's eyes was dark and a bit terrifying. “Erik...” Katherine said, struggling to find the words to say. He didn't say anything, just took her arm in a tight grip. People were quick to get out of their way as they moved towards the door. Katherine sent an agonized look over her shoulder at Jane.

“Oh, this is not good,” Jane breathed. She darted into the crowd, and found Michaela laughing with a man dressed as Napoleon Bonaparte. Grabbing Michaela's arm, Jane offered an apologetic smile. “Excuse me. I need my cousin for a moment.”

“Jane, what's wrong?” Michaela asked as her cousin pushed her through the room. “I liked that one. He was amusing.”

Pausing, Jane spotted the strange man who had danced with Katherine. He was following the couple towards the door. “Cousin, do you see that man with the turban?” she asked. Frowning, Michaela followed her gaze and nodded. “He threatened Katherine, and we have to stop him from finding out where she and Erik live. Can you do that?”

The smile that came to Michaela's face was almost as terrifying as the look that had been in Erik's eyes. “Oh, yes, I can do that,” she said. She moved at a pace just under a run, that somehow still managed to look calm and dignified. She caught up to the man in the foyer. She saw Katherine and Erik go out, and grabbed onto the turbaned man. “Oh, there you are!”

“I'm sorry, miss, you have the wrong person,” the man said coldly, shrugging her off. He barely even glanced at her.

“I'm sure I haven’t! We met in Paris, didn't we? At the Viscomte de Chagny's house?”

At the name, the man went still and then slowly turned. He studied her with a frown. “You must be mistaken,” he insisted.

“Really? Was it the Opera Populaire then?” Michaela pressed on, making her eyes wide. “There must be somewhere we met because I have seen you before. What is your name?”

“Ahmir Khan,” he answered automatically and then looked angry. “Who are you, you impertinent child?”

Offended, Michaela put her hands on her hips. “Child? Do I look like a child to you?” she snapped back, glad of the mask that hid her identity. “I assure I am no child, Mr. Khan!”

Rolling his eyes, Khan hurried out the door. Michaela scowled as she tried to think of what to do next. “The fireworks are about to begin!” a shout went up from the ballroom. Innumerable guests hurried for the closest door to be out where they could see. Michaela's scowl turned into a grin as she stepped out the front door. Khan was surrounded by people and was looking up and down the street in search of his quarry.

Pleased, Michaela walked back to the ballroom where Jane caught up to her. “Did you do it?” the blond asked, worriedly.

“I did,” Michaela said in satisfaction. “He lost them. But I think we should leave before he decides he must come after us instead. And you have to tell me what's going on.”

~*~

Sitting at the piano, Pip let his fingers move across the keys with the smooth grace he'd earned from his instructor over the past year. He grimaced as he hit the wrong note. Picking up the quill, he made a change to the music spread in front of him. He hummed the notes he had written, lightly tapping the beat on the keys.

The slamming of a door caught his attention and pulled him from his music. Quickly, he rolled the sheet music up and blew out the candle. On his tiptoes, he raced for the open door and slipped into the hallway.

“Erik, please! You're going to wake Pip!” he heard Katherine hiss, making him pause on his way to his room. After all this time, that's all he ever thought of her as: Katherine. She was like a big sister, he supposed.

“Why didn't you tell me?” Erik demanded, not lowering his voice at all. Cringing instinctively, Pip turned and crept towards the stairs. “Katherine, why didn't you tell me?”

“Because it truly is nothing! I knew you would only worry and act like this!”

Frowning, Pip crouched down at the head of the stairs and peered down. He'd never heard them fight like this before, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. The two people he relied on to keep his world safe and happy had no business shouting at each other, in his opinion. And if he was going to fix it, he had to know what was going on.

Below him, Erik and Katherine were facing each other in the hall. “I know why you don't want this, Erik, but it is happening,” Katherine continued, her voice becoming pleading. As Pip watched, she took a step forward, her hand outstretched. “Everything it going to be fine. You have to believe me.”

“You cannot know that!” Erik snarled. “You don't know what a child of mine will look like! What kind of monster you will be bringing into the world! It could kill you!”

Pip's frown went deeper as he tried to make sense of the words. “Our child will not be a monster!” Katherine said sharply. “I don't ever want to hear you say that! He -she- will be loved and have a good life.”

“You can't know that!”

“Yes, I can!” Katherine covered her face with her hand for a moment. “Erik, I can know that. I don't care what he will look like. He is ours. Yours and mine, and I will love him. That's all I care about. But I won't be able to raise him without you. I need you, Erik.” Her voice caught with a sob. “I need you to help me through this.”

Pip balled his hands into fists. He'd said once that no one should make his Katherine cry, and now his music teacher was doing it? Before he could move, though, Erik crossed the hall and put his arms around Katherine.

“I'm not going anywhere,” the masked man said, his voice low. “I'm...scared, Katherine.”

The eavesdropping boy stared in astonishment. Scared? Erik? “I am too,” Katherine answered. “I want to be happy about this, Erik. Help me be happy.”

It came as no surprise to Pip that they were kissing in the next second, because that's what they did all the time. Making a face, Pip drew back and began creeping back to his room as the clock struck twelve, marking the new year.

He wasn't stupid. At eleven years old, Pip considered himself an old hand at the ways of the world. If Katherine and Erik were having a baby, that meant he'd have another person to look out for. He had his work cut out for him and he needed time to plan.

~*~

At an hour far earlier than usual visiting hours, Michaela and Jane converged on Rose Lodge. Both of them looked determined to do battle, though there was a hint of concern in their eyes. Concern for their friend.

So it came as a shock to them when it was a smiling Katherine who greeted them in her sitting room. “I'm glad you're here,” she said. She held up two pieces of fabric, one green and one yellow. “What do you think of these colors?”

“They'll look horrible on you,” Michaela answered automatically.

Katherine's smile widened. “Then, its good that they aren't for me,” she said. “I'm trying to decide on a color scheme for the nursery. Green and yellow aren't gender specific, and I want some kind of color besides white.”

“Really?” Jane asked skeptically as she took a seat. “I had the feeling you would be worrying about something else, a little bit more pressing.”

“Oh, and you say I have no tact!” Michaela complained as Katherine's smile faded. “We were careful, Katherine. It was just like in Paris. We knew what to look for, and we weren't followed here. But, Jane is right. If there is someone hunting Erik, you have a very big problem on your hands.”

“I am well aware of that,” Katherine said simply. She laid the fabric on her lap, running her fingers across the threads with a sigh. “I haven't told Erik, if that's what you are wondering. I-I couldn't add something else for him to get angry over.”

Michaela reached over and took one of the fabric swatches. “Is he all right now?” she asked, treading with uncharacteristic caution.

“No, I don't think he is,” Katherine answered honestly. “He was very angry at first that I didn't tell him I was tired and had been to see a doctor, but I think he's really just scared. Scared of being a father. Scared our child will have the same disadvantage that he does. Scared for me.”

“Scared for you?” Jane repeated in alarm. “Why for you? You said you were fine!”

Katherine nodded. “And I am fine. I promise you that,” she assured her friends. “But you know as well as I do that giving birth does not always go well, no matter what a doctor says.”

“Well, you'll have us here for you,” Michaela declared. Katherine frowned at her. “Mother has decided that you apparently need someone to look after you right now, so she's convinced Father to rent a house for the next six months. So, we are going to be just down the street. Won't that be fun?”

Startled, Katherine stared at them. Then, with a choked laugh, she leaned forward and put her arms around them both. “I don't know what I'd do without you,” she informed them, her voice choking.

“Don't go all weepy on us!” Michaela teased, patting Katherine's shoulder. “If there's one thing I can't stand, its tears.”

Jane pulled free first, though. “I think we've gotten a bit off topic here,” she said. “What are you going to do about Ahmir Khan?”

At the name, Katherine frowned. “Is that his name? How ever did you manage to learn that?”

Smirking, Michela leaned back in her chair. “That's my little secret, Katherine,” she said with satisfaction. “And I asked my father if he knew anything. I can tell you that Ahmir Khan is a finder of things and people. Apparently, he's made quite a name for himself in Paris and London these past couple of years.”

“What could he possibly want with Erik?” Katherine wondered. “Or rather, when or what could Erik have done something to him?”

“Oh, I think the Viscomte Raoul de Chagny is to blame,” Michaela said with certainty. “You should have seen Khan react when I mentioned the name.”

Groaning, Katherine put her head in her hand. “Why will they not let him be? It has been over a year! Five since he was involved in their lives at the Opera Populaire!”

“Do you even have a plan?” Jane asked in concern. “Are you going to run?”

Lifting her head, Katherine demanded, her eyes flashing with anger, “Run? Where could we run to, Jane? If the viscomte is determined enough to send a man to America to find us, where could we possibly go where they would not follow? And...I'm hardly in a position to run right now, am I?”

There was a pause. “Now you're just being over dramatic,” Michaela accused. “Women have been making long trips while they've been in the same condition for generations!”

“That may be, but the question you should consider is, would Erik allow me to? When he is already concerned about my well being?”

“Excellent point,” Jane granted. “So, we have to make our stand here.”

“You make it sound like we are at war.”

Michaela gave a snort. “Well, aren't we?” she asked. She steepled her fingers in front of her face, a contemplative expression taking hold. “Now, we need to consider what we know. Ahmir Khan is a man who is known for finding and getting what he has been commissioned to retrieve. He's not a killer, at least as far as Father knows, so he's not going to actually hurt Erik.”

“No, he's just here to find him,” Katherine responded with a scowl. “The viscomte will come do the killing himself.”

“I'm not so sure that's right,” Jane said slowly. “Raoul de Chagny isn't a killer.”

“This Ahmir Khan doesn't know for sure that Erik is -was- the phantom of the opera,” Katherine said, waving a dismissive hand. “He is looking for proof. We have to keep him from finding that proof.”

Michaela smirked. “Then, its a good thing there are three of us to outwit him.”

____________

A/N: Olivia Hallinan as Jane Martin