Freya stood at her window overlooking the small grassy courtyard of the apartment block. Her room was dark, she didn't have much need for light, but there was a token lamp on. It was only a few hours after the show ended, after the mess that the main event disintegrated into. Matt's apartment was still dark, she doubted he'd be in any state to return to it for a while. Dante's windows were dark too. She didn't know where he'd gotten too, and she wasn't really sure she cared. She may not have been BFFs with Matt, but he didn't deserve what Jason did. No one did. He'd been on a downward slope for a while but this all went to far. Yes, his wife had left him, but that didn't mean he should throw a colleague through the set, especially as she was sure all it would take to get Selenia back would be to say sorry. She came away from the window. Maybe it wasn't that simple. You could never tell with other people's relationships.

She picked up a piece of crumpled paper from the table; Friction's matches. She didn't know who her opponent was going to be, unless there was someone wandering about actually called ???. It unnerved her. She couldn't prepare like that. And it never turned out well. It could be anyone, which she guessed was the point. ~It could be a rookie, it could be a vet, it could be fucking TI or Highone for all she knew and it didn't sit well with her. The surprise for the fans was fine - suspense sold - but was it really fair to put the wrestlers through it?

Her stomach rumbled and she walked over to the fridge and opened it, the yellow light spilling from its inside and giving more illumination to the dim room. It was pretty empty. Beer and a lump of questionable cheese. Her stomach rumbled again and she sighed. She didn't fancy going out to find something to eat, but there wasn't many options, unless beer was secretly a food group. She needed to shop properly; she'd been so used to being on the move she'd never bothered. In fact, she'd never done a proper shop at all: werewolves were more 'grow your own', and this was her first real permanent residence. She shut the fridge and looked about the flat.

"It could be worse."

She grabbed her bag and left the apartment, moving quietly. She didn't want to meet any of her co-workers, not that she really expected to. There were footsteps in the stairwell. She sniffed the air. Male. Not anyone she recognised. She stepped down the steps slowly. As she rounded a bend in the stairs, a man was coming up.

"Ms. Green, I suggest you return to your room."

Freya looked down, noticing the man was wearing a TCW shirt. "Why?"

"Well, after what happened on air, Mr. Deng would prefer it if his wrestlers stayed in their appartments."

Freya moved down a few steps. "You're grounding us?"

"I wouldn't put it like that... it's for your own safety."

"I'm sure." Freya was now on the same step as him. "I need food. I'm going out." she took another step but he pulled out an object from a holster. She stopped in her tracks. "Is that a gun? You're going to shoot us to keep the peace? I know we're in a communist country and everything, but isn't this just overkill?"

"No, it's a taser. Now, if you can return to your room..."

"I need stuff. You can't keep me shut in here."

"Mr. Deng wants his employees to stay in their apartments tonight to cool down. He didn't want any more altercations."

"And he plans to do that by electrocuting us?"

"Not if you you do as you're told."

Freya turned slightly. "I hope it keeps you safe," she said before taking a step back up the way she'd come.

The man relaxed and lowered the taser. Freya took her chance and moved faster than he'd expected, she pushed past him and ran down the stairs. Behind her she heard the two barbs of the taser uselessly hit a wall behind her.

She ran down the steps; two at a time, and eventually out into the dark city.

She walked the streets of Beijing for a few hours, not looking for something in particular, in fact she was just looking for a way out. Deng's actions had, she thought brought her to a point where she didn't expect her to find herself. She was worn out, tired and alone.

Darkness seemed ever more distant, her own kin seemed to follow his every step as if he was the latest celebrity fetish.

Dante...she paused, Dante was.

She shook her head, she didn't have a word for what he had done. Sure, Strikmore's anti-NHFC tirades had been annoying and aggravating. But in the end he was just another challenger.

Freya Green stopped dead in her tracks, unable to imagine that she had just thought what she had just thought.

”Just another challenger...”

She shook her head and walked on as twilight started to set in and the city streets went from being illuminated by the fading sun to being ghostly lit by an uncountable number of flourecent neon-signs.

She trudged on in the dusk until she found herself at the entrance of a small restaurant. She felt hunger growl in her stomach and after a few seconds of searching her pockets for her wallet she found it and walked in. The resultant was fairly full of people but a waiter with a friendly smile showed her to a table and asked what she wanted to eat in severely broken English. She scanned the menu and found something that sounded good. The waiter nodded and replied with what she believed to be ”good choice.” Nasi Goreng was good. She sighed and relaxed.

A few minutes later the waiter returned with something to drink. He smiled a wide and this time decidedly fake grin before disappearing towards the kitchen with a haste that seemed strangely forced. On his way to the back he stopped by a man who seemed to ask him something, the aiter nodded nervously before disappearing.

Freya finished her drink and tried to relax again, this time however she failed. After a few minuted her mouth started to feel strangely dry, almost like sandpaper. As she tried to wash it away with water she saw a shadow loom over her. She looked up and saw the man the waiter had been talking to on his way out standing by her side with beads of sweat on his greasy looking forehead and a wide, sick smile on his lips. He asked her something, she looked at him with an unasked question on her lips. She had learned a little mandarin, but this sounded different to her. The man repeated his question, but still Freya didn't understand. She shook her head in reply. The man's grin grw wider and he nodded as he licked his lips.

She found the dryness of the mouth go away and her mood turn sour.

”Look I don't know what the heck you want...”

"'E wants to know 'ow much, darlin'." a voice in a very familiar accent said from behind her.

”What?!” Freya asked.

"'E's from Japan, love. 'E wants to...er...'buy you'. For the night, like."

”What?” Freya asked sounding both horrified and angry, mostly angry.

”They do that, pay for ”female companionship”...”

Freya blared at the Japanese man, who now looked a lot less comfortable then before. He shouted at the man behind Freya in an irate tone.

"Oi, fuck off, mate, she's wiv me!"

The man blared at Freya and then apparently at the man behind her.

"You got a fuckin' problem, you wanker?" The obviously British man asked with the steely sound and the swish of a butterfly knife punctuating his voice. The steely sheen of the polished blade made the Japanese man step back, Freya could guess that the man behind her made a trusting motion at the Japanese man as the sweating amn went deathly pale and ran off as if the hounds of hell was after him.

Freya exhaled, she hated feeling like a damned damsel in distress.

“Thank you.” She said turning around.

“Don't mention it...” The man said.

As she looked at his face it seemed to change, it was gaining features that seemed familiar.

“You...who...what are you?”

"Not “what”, “who”. 'Oo am I? I fought you'd recognise me, darlin'. I'm Spike. You know..." he leant close to her ear, and his accent seemed to slip away, "I'm the one who fucked Lilith. I'm the one who beat the shit out of your brother. I'm the one with Dante's blood running in my veins." He straightened.

"All right, love?"

Freya suddenly realised she did recognise him. He'd been gaunt and ill looking when they'd met, and there wasn't any sort of introduction, no time. Memories came flooding back, they were trying to rescue Darkness from The Apocalypse. There had been fear, pain, panic. Darkness had said something about seeing them all die when they had got him back to safety. And there had been the vampire Skaar, now Lord Abortion.

Freya looked around the restaurant, half expecting to see one of the Faithless lurking in a corner, even Lord Abortion himself.

"What's the matter, love?"

Freya turned back to Spike, realising that when he sat next to her he had blocked her in, she could push past him but didn't really want to make a scene. And that his face had changed to look a lot more like Jason.

"Stop doing that."

"What?" He grinned and his face changed again, becoming more pointy.

"What do you want Spike?" she growled.

"I want to know where my brother is."

Freya thought back. She'd seen Spike long before Nazca, he'd been a wrestler. There'd been a big guy with him.

"I don't know your brother. Will you let me out now?" Freya stood up but Spike covered the hand she'd left on the table with one of his own. It was very warm.

"Stop playing games with me." The cockney had gone and was replaced with a harder voice.

"I don't know what you want from me. I don't know who your brother is."

Spike exhaled through his teeth making a hissing noise. "You're not listening to me. Jason Dante's blood runs through my veins. He's my brother, and I think you know him very well."

"Jason?" He'd never mentioned having a brother, but then they'd never really talked about this stuff. "I don't know where he is, we're not really talking."

"What about Darkness?" Spike stared at her intently.

"I'm not telling you."

Spike's eyes glowed red and the hand that was still holding Freya's got very hot.

"Ow, let go!" She tried to pull her hand away but Spike held on.

"Where is Darkness?"

"I don't know. Gone somewhere." Spike let go of her hand and she pulled it close to her chest, cradling it with the other one.

Spike's shoulders slumped and he rubbed his face with his hands. "Sorry, love, I didn't mean t' scare yer." He dropped his hands and she could see his eyes were no longer red, instead he looked very tired. "I could really do wiv talkin' to Jas'. He's the only one that can help me. I was 'opin' maybe that Darkness could help me look, they have a," he waved a hand by his head, "connection, like."

"Aren't you part of the..." she looked around and whispered the final word, "Abyss?"

He laughed. "Nah, I 'ate those creepy bastards as much as you do."

"But..."

Spike cut her off. "If you and that nose a' yours can 'elp me find my bruvver, I'll explain everything."

Freya tilted her head. He didn't seem to be lying, and he did smell a bit like Jason. And if they found Jason and Spike was trouble then she was sure the two of them could deal with it.

"Fine, I'll help you."

Spike smiled and his features softened again, looking more like Dante's. He got up and let her lead the way out of the restaurant. His eyes shone red for an instant before following her out. The back of his neck was red raw from where a gleaming black dragon tattoo had recently been applied.