Hello to you! I want to thank my-echo for the ending to this chapter. Thank you. She really helped me out on it. And as well as my grammar mistakes. I hope you continue to help me out. Thanks again. Oh and everyone: Give her a hand! :0)

The next day when Cat woke, Erik was gone.

She sighed and crawled out of bed. Cat walked—or stumbled—to the kitchen. Take your pick. Either way she was introduced to walls and doorways along her staggering path. Finally she fell into the room, cursing. As she made tea (she had picked up a taste for Erik's bitter-assed Russian tea), she counted the days that she had been there. 1 month, 1 week, and 5 days. It had been December when she had arrived, so if she was correct, it was...either January or February. As she sat at the table, sleepily drawing circles with her finger on the tabletop, Erik walked in.

"Erik, what day is it?"

Erik looked over at her, sitting at the table. "Hmm, I believe it is January the...14th. Why?"

Cat looked up and yawned. She was right. It was her birthday. "Oh nothing important. Just that I am now 21." She yawned again and stood. "Be back in a minute." With that, she walked out of the room.

21? thought Erik. Is she really only that young? He was nearly fifty, she only twenty-one, but she was the love of his life. He sighed. Somehow he had to get her back to her own place, her own time—and if it meant that he'd die of a broken heart, so be it. Her life was much more important.

"Hey Erik?"

Erik turned to see Cat dressed in..."jeans", he believed she called them, and a white shirt. "Yes?"

"You think we can go out today? I think I may be getting cabin fever."

Erik thought for a moment, then nodded," Yes. We can surprise Nadir while we are out."

Cat smiled tiredly and walked to get her cloak.

Erik watched her. She seemed so fatigued and weak….not her usually snippy self. Erik was at a loss. He took her in his arms when she came back out. "I love you. Why can't you admit it too?"

"Erik...I can't...say that right now...please."

He sighed and led her up the tunnels. "Cat. You need to tell me what's wrong. I can't help you if you will not tell me what's wrong."

"Erik, there is something that I needed to have done. But I can't have it done now. Please don't make me tell you. It will break your heart…and mine. Let it be for awhile. As they say, 'ignorance is bliss.' Don't make me get angry with you."

"I would not think anything of the sort." Erik's voice had taken a definite turn.

Cat sighed. Erik decided to go up the back way to the street that came out near the Rue Scribe. They turned sharply into a small alleyway which angled down and curved upward. Cat felt a slight bit of doom looking down the dark, foreboding street--but Erik was with her, so she pushed her fears down and didn't balk.

Their boots were almost soundless on the cobblestones of the tiny alley—Erik made no sound because he always moved silently; as for Cat, her "boots" were in fact soft sneakers. She felt like wearing them today. The rubber muffled her own steps.

The sun did not shine down in the alley, and the air was colder in the dark. Cat took a deep breath, the fresh air making her feel much better. As they headed down the alley, Erik suddenly stiffened and stopped.

"Ma petite, stay here. There is someone up ahead," he whispered to her.

"No, we go together," Cat whispered back, meaning it. She didn't want him going into any danger alone either.

"No," Erik said firmly, "stay here, I will call for you when it is safe." He kissed her forehead, "Do not move from this spot, chaton. I mean it." Then he was gone in a soft whisper of cape.

Shit, it was quiet in the alley without Erik. Dark too. Cat wasn't afraid of the dark, she loved the dark, or anything else for that matter, but it was unnerving to be out here.

She crept carefully along the wall when someone grabbed her. She felt the cool steel of a knife-blade against her thundering, rapid pulse.

"Scream and I'll cut your throat," a male voice hissed in her ear, "The monster hiding from us?"

Cat didn't have time to torment him. There was a crack and a thin lasso snapped past her face to slide down the neck of her attacker. The rope jerked tight and he fell to the ground. She had no time to register what had happened before her upper arm was enclosed in an iron grip and she was pulled backward, shoved behind Erik, who now stood in front of her like a living wall.

She then heard shouting. "This way! They're down here!"

She looked up at Erik, "Aren't we popular?"

Erik's yellow eyes blazed as he pushed her down the alley, "Go. Get away." he hissed at her.

Cat's heart thumped painfully but she ignored it, looking up at him, "No."

"Cat. This is not the time to fight me. Now go." Erik tried to push her away again, but she spun around, and stood behind him.

"I know that. But when one loves the other, they stand beside them. Always." Cat looked up at him with impunity and met his eyes.

A slight smirk tugged at his lips, but faded when he looked up at the people coming down the alley. "Come." Erik took Cat's hand and they ran down the alley and into the crowd of Parisians. People scattered. Erik pulled her to the bridge across the Seine River.

Cat looked down from the the ledge. " Any bright ideas, Genius?"

She tilted her head at Erik. He looked down at the dirty water.

"Yes."

Cat glanced behind them and then back at him. His eyes had a strange glint in them. Her own widened… "You wouldn't."

Erik didn't say anything. He was too busy judging the distance.

"There they are!"

"Stop right there! You are under arrest."

Great…the police. Or whatever the French called them.

"Cat."

She turned to glare at Erik. She was mad. Not at him, but he was the closest one near her. "Yes."

He pulled her close. "There is a passageway right under this bridge. It will lead right back to the catacombs under the Opera House. We are going to jump. I want you to head straight to it. DO NOT wait for me."

Cat opened her mouth, but Erik did not give her time to argue. Just as the gendarmes and the crowd reached them, he pulled her close and together, they jumped.

The cold water closed over her head and shocked her still for a few seconds. She opened her eyes and saw Erik right in front of her. Suddenly she felt a pull as the current caught hold of her. Cat was pulled away and felt her back hit something hard. Pain seared though her middle. She fell away, spinning in the water. Blood coated her tongue. Somewhere in the back of her mind was a vague sense that she must find Erik— and then another instinctual thought: if she lost consciousness, she could drown. Already her heart was protesting and her lungs were burning. Kicking upward, her head broke the surface.

"Hold on! We'll get you out!" Distorted voices sounded from everywhere.

Erik. Where was Erik… Suddenly she felt arms around her waist. She kicked out, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice: "Easy, chaton."

Cat sighed and relaxed. Erik and Cat allowed themselves to be carried by the current. Cat's heart was thumping against his arm that was encircled around her chest. When they were close to the bank, Erik pulled her closer and stood up, carrying her in his arms. Strange men dressed in white pants and shirts that said "AMBULANCE" tried to take her from him. Erik pinned them with one glare from his yellow eyes. They quickly backed away.

Ignoring the crowd, he laid her on the ground. "Cat?"

She opened her eyes and smiled weakly up at him. She thumped his chest. "Remind me to kill you later." With that, she fell unconscious.

"Sir?..."

Erik glared at the man, daring him to take her away. Oh, let him try. Let him try…they'd see the Opera Ghost's wrath unleashed upon them in full force if he did…

Suddenly, as if he had been struck by lightning, Erik realized where—or rather, when—he and Cat had emerged. Feeling a rush of intense relief for Cat's sake, he said quickly, "Please…a hospital? Where is a hospital?"

The man stared. "That's what we're here for, sir…to provide transport to the hospital."

"Ah…" said Erik softly, allowing the man to take a look at her. "I'm guessing you are some sort of…doctor?"

"Paramedic," the man said, giving him another strange look. "You people been at a costume party or something?"

Erik looked down at his clothes, and his fingers reflexively shot up to check his mask—which against all odds, he had managed to keep from washing away in the current. "Oh…yes." It was the easiest way to respond, he reflected wryly. It certainly wouldn't do to let them know the truth.

The paramedics loaded Cat on a stretcher and put her in the ambulance. Erik began to panic. "Please…may I go with her?"

" 'Course you can," said a redheaded female paramedic. "Hold her hand and talk to her…might make it easier for her to fight."

"Fight?" said Erik in a small voice.

"Fight her way back to life," she began, and stopped, wondering if she should go any further.

Erik stared at her.

"She's dying," the woman said somberly, deciding to be frank rather than give him false hope through a bright untruth. "We need to get her to the hospital, stat. Hop in." She gave Erik a hand to help him up.

He held Cat's limp, cold hand all the way to the hospital, while the ambulance lights flashed and the siren shrieked and the automobiles parted to make way.

He found himself praying to a being that he had previously denied for all his weary existence, and whom he'd never thought he'd turn to for help.

Dear God, don't let her die…

Well that's it on this story. To find out what happens to Cat: Tune in next week. No really. Next week or sooner I'll have the sequel up. Don't know what I'll call it. I'll let you know in my profile. Thank you for reading and reviewing. Please continue to leave reviews. If they are signed I'll reply back.