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"Darkness went against Commissioner Stern's wishes in putting Freya in his corner for his match against TI and now that Acolyte is almost fully healed she thinks it's time for the NHFC to go on a 'fact finding' mission on the young girl - and what better way than in a match? Aco and Freya have some history regarding Alexxx, but how will Freya's new alliance with Darkness play into this? Will the NHFC be forced to make an enemy of her before they rely on her help?"</center>

"Can I get you something to drink, Sir?" The air stewards had left Acolyte alone for most of the flight, the man in white looked almost too large to be allowed on the plane.

"No, thank you." He didn't even look up from the passage he was reading.

"Can I get you anything, Miss?"

"Cup of tea?"

The voice came from the seat opposite and drew Acolyte's attention away from the Good Book. He looked up and met a pair of familiar green eyes. The pair sat in silence until Freya had been given her drink and the stewardess had moved on to the next row.

"So how've you been, Aco?"

He pushed back some stray hair back revealing a dark bruise.

"Not so good."

Freya eyed the bruise. "New stable working out well then I see."

"Better than the last."

They sat awkwardly for a few minutes.

"Have you heard what Alexxx is going to be doing?" Acolyte finally broke the silence.

"No..."

"It was on the TCW site earlier, she's going to do some stuff in FHM."

"Oh."

"It said Stern had made the decision because we had Havoc at San Torino, and because Alexxx is Italian..."

"I hope she doesn't think she can do the same when we get to Sheffield."

"Not your sort of thing?"

Freya raised an eyebrow.

"No, not really."

The two lapsed into silence, Freya looking out of the window and Aco going back to his Bible.

**

"We will soon begin our descent. Will passengers please return to their seats and fasten their belts. Thank you."

Acolyte and Freya shifted in their seats and fumbled with their belts.

"I hate this bit," Freya said.

"Really? Why's that?"

"It messes with my ears something chronic."

The plane was soon drawing into the terminal and people reaching for their luggage in the over head compartments.

"Want me to gets yours down too?" Acolyte asked, getting up to retrieve his bag.

"I don't have anything up there," Freya replied, "I only take on what I can carry."

"Why?" He gave her a funny look.

"I dunno." Freya shrugged. "I can't reach the overheads, so I don't need anyone to help this way. I only sleep so it's not like I need entertainment."

As they left the plane with the other passengers, the silence had descended over them again. Freya stayed close behind Acolyte, the sea of people parting before him, saving her from being jostled around as she normally was.

They collected their luggage and headed for the arrivals lounge. Around them people were hugging and meeting those that had been away, their very own hallmark moments. Acolyte scanned the room and frowned.

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah," Acolyte said, "I was just expecting Dante to pick me up."

"Maybe he's just running late, why don't you..." Freya's voice drifted off.

"What?" Acolyte looked in the direction Freya was looking to see what had distracted her.

"Oh, nothing, I just thought I saw... it doesn't matter." She shook her head. "Anyway, maybe Jason is just late, give him a ring."

Acolyte produced a phone, pressed a few buttons and held it to his ear. After a while the frown reappeared and he put the phone away.

"He's out of service range or something."

"Well, I've got a car rented, so if you want a lift..."

Acolyte looked at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you guys helped me out, it'll just be repaying the favour. There's no point in you paying for a taxi when I'm going the same way."

Fifteen minutes later they were sitting, in Acolytes case awkwardly, in Freya's rented Clio.

"How are your map-reading skills?" Freya asked as she put the key in the ignition.

"Alright, I guess. Why?"

"Good," she said smiling. "You can navigate." A map was produced from the back seat. Acolyte fumbled with the pages until he found the correct page.

"Ready," he said.

"Good, lets rock and roll."

**

Three quarters of an hour later they pulled up outside their hotel. The journey had been a quiet one, the main topics of conversation being Acolyte's directions and the abysmal Greek driving.

They took their luggage into the reception and booked into their rooms. They started to go off in their separate ways.

"Freya?"

"Acolyte."

"Fancy meeting up for a drink later?"

"Depends. Are you planning anything subversive or cunning? Like drugging my drink or attacking me with a bottle?"

"I hadn't planned too..." Acolyte looked confused.

"Alright then," she said shrugging, "just wanted to check. I'll see you later then."

Freya and Acolyte sat in the hotel bar, awkwardly trying to make conversation. So far their conversation had stayed away from their up-coming match and the reasons behind that, but Freya was starting to feel anxious about it.

"Cordazer," Freya said his name slowly, it felt weird but he preferred it, "why have we been put into this match? What are Dante and Darkness looking for?"

"How do you mean?" The man in white sounded puzzled.

"Well... that interview Darkness did for Beatdown, he said you guys had unanswered questions about me, a vested interest. And then we're matched up, coincidence? What are you meant to be looking for?"

"If the others wanted me to investigate you, they haven't said anything to me."

"So that tagline for our match..." She held up the programme for Stanglehold.

"Something Stern cooked up I expect."

The pair lapsed into silence.

"Have you spoken to Jason yet?" Freya asked after a while.

Acolyte shook his head.

"Are you not worried?"

"No, not really," he said shrugging, "he's probably just got caught up with Hammer or something."

Freya finished her drink.

"I'm going to bed, lots of sight seeing to do tomorrow. See you bright and early."

"What? Why?" Acolyte looked confused.

"Because you're coming with me."

"Since when?"

"Oh, come on Cordazer, you'll enjoy it." Freya made puppy dog eyes at him. "Please? I've got no one else to go with, and you're not exactly surrounded by people either." Acolyte was not looking convinced. "You can't come to Athens and not see the Acropolis, what will you say when people ask what Greece was like? ‘I was too busy being moody and hiding in my room to see it'?"

"Fine." He did not look happy though.

"It's ok blondie, you'll like Hephaestus's Temple. Night night." With that Freya left Acolyte alone with his drink. He wasn't really annoyed that she'd managed to strong arm him into sight-seeing with her, she was right, he couldn't come to Greece and then not see any of it. He was worried about Dante though, it was unusual for him to forget to meet with out ringing to apologise, but he had been feeling off recently. And he hadn't been in contact with Darkness properly since he came back from Japan. If either of them did have something on Freya he wished that they had told him. Freya was a nice girl and all, just a little odd. A strand if white hair fell in front of his face. Blondie indeed.

**

Freya and Acolyte managed to get to the Acropolis easily enough, as a major tourist attraction it was well sign posted, and out of tourist season it was fairly quiet. They walked around the ruins, looking at what remained of the Parthenon, theatre, gates and the Erechtheum.

"See, isn't this interesting?" Freya said when they sat for a rest and a drink. She'd bought a guidebook and had been busy reading about the buildings around them.

"Hmm." Acolyte still wasn't sure this was such a good idea, it was interesting, but the heat and dust were starting to get to him. "Did you say there was another temple up here?"

"Yeah, it's just over there I think," Freya checked the map, "Yep, it's just over there. You should like this."

The pair got up and started walking in the direction Freya had pointed.

"Why do you think I'll like this one so much?" Freya's insistence of him liking this temple so much was putting him off it before he even got there.

"Well," she flicked the page in her book and started to read aloud, " Unlike the Parthenon, the temple of Hephaestus has all its columns intact, and even has most of its original roof. Its friezes and other decorations, however, have inevitably been badly damaged by thieves and looters over the centuries. It owes its survival to its conversion to a Christian Church, the Church of St George, in the 7th century AD. The survival of the exterior came at the cost of the ancient interior, which was removed and replaced by the structures of a Christian church." She looked up at her tall companion. "You're not impressed are you? I thought you'd like to see something like this."

"Well, maybe it's just not my sort of thing."

"Ok, fine, I'll drop you back into town and go to Zeus's alone, but while we're here can we just go have a look at this one, it's just over there." She was hurt; if he hadn't wanted to come he should have just told her. She knew from Alexxx how he felt about religion, and new Gods taking over from the old seemed interesting, or Freya thought so anyway.

"Fine."

The pair walked to the well-preserved temple in silence. There had been very few people at the Acropolis, but the smaller temple was almost deserted. They stood in front of the small fence that was meant to prevent anyone entering and wrecking the temple. The guidebook was right, the external decoration had been preserved. The story of Theseus and the Minotaur was told across the columns. Freya wandered off looking at them leaving Acolyte alone.

"Do you know the story Theseus?" A tall man with dark hair was now standing along side him at the fence looking at the first relief.

"Um.. sort of, Theseus kills the minotaur that lived in a maze." Acolyte wasn't sure he liked being questioned by strangers. The man was English, and Acolyte presumed he wanted to show off for other tourists.

"Close, the minotaur was killed for being something he was born and could not help. Minos asked the Gods to assure him that he would become the next king, and was sent a bull as a sign. The bull was meant to be sacrificed in thanks, but Minos wanted the bull for himself and sacrificed another. Gods, being Gods, knew that he had not done what they asked and set out to punish him. Minos's wife fell in love with the bull and together they spawned a man with the head of the bull, or, our minotaur." The stranger stopped for dramatic effect. "Every year, seven young men and seven maidens were sent from Athens to be fed to the Minotaur under Minos's instruction. In the third sacrifice the Athenian kings son, Theseus, was drawn, and he volunteered to kill the minotaur. Theseus did so and escaped the labyrinth in which the minotaur had been placed as a youth, using a ball of string." The stranger paused again and looked at Acolyte. "He doesn't seem so much like the bad guy now does he, our minotaur, more of a victim, used by those in charge for political motives."

"Cordazer, we're leaving." Freya had returned but she was looking pale, or pale for a Brit.

"I'm just talking to this guy, why do we have to leave just because you say so?" Acolyte was getting annoyed, he wasn't the one that wanted to come here and now it was starting to get interesting she was badgering him to leave.

"Because I think now would be a really good time to leave." Freya was getting annoyed as well.

"I'm sorry about my companion," Acolyte said, turning to the stranger, "she has...." His voice trailed off as he found himself staring into bright green eyes.

"It's ok, I know how she is," the stranger replied. He grinned showing unusually long canines.

"How...wha..." Acolyte was dumbstruck.

"It's very simple," Freya marched up to the pair of them, "Fenris, Cordazer. Cordazer, my brother Fenris. And now we're leaving." She grabbed Acolytes' hand and started to pull Acolyte away.

The pair had only gone a few steps before Fenris spoke.

"I don't think so."

"And why not?" Freya said, turning around. She felt a tugging on her hand.

"I..I think they're why not..." stammered Acolyte.

Freya spun around and saw what Acolyte meant. Barring their way were three large wolves.

"Shit."