Jessica tossed and turned, thrashing fitfully in her large, Wolfram and Hart-issue bed. All her muscles tensed as she let out a high pitched whimper.

Flashback

A small girl with reddish hair sits in a cramped plane seat, chatting animatedly with a woman sitting next to her – her mother. The cabin starts to shake and shudder. The girl and her mother look uneasy, but soon return to their conversation. Other relatives begin to join in. Suddenly, the plane starts to tremble much more violently. Oxygen masks drop from the panels above the group's heads. The girl's mother begins to pull down the masks, but an overhead locker comes open and she is struck from behind by a metal briefcase. She slumps forward, blood trickling from the back of her head. The girl shakes her, desperately trying to force her back to consciousness. There is an ear-splitting noise, a wrenching squeal. The plane falls towards earth faster and faster. The little girl begins to scream, a high-pitched sound soaring above the chaos surrounding her.

End Flashback

Spike woke to the sound of whimpering cries coming from the room next to his. He swung his legs over the side of his newly acquired bed and stretched once.

"Déjà vu all over again," he said to himself, remembering the ghosts that had tormented him during his brief time as a spirit. He walked silently out of his room, closing the door behind him. As Spike approached Jessica's room, he felt a moment of hesitation, as though something was telling him that nothing good would come of this. He shook the feeling off, and kicked Jessica's door off its hinges.

Jessica made a strangled half-scream as the door seemingly exploded. "They told me these rooms…were soundproof…" she thought haltingly. Aloud, she said, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Thought I heard some weird noises, crying-like," Spike said. "Everything OK? Not that I really care, but you're keeping me awake."

Jessica glared at the blond vampire. "Everything's fine. Get out," she flared. "What the hell am I doing?" she thought. "I'm supposed to be an aloof, icy Power, not a short-tempered little girl!"

Spike looked at her as though she was a pane of glass and he could see right through her. "You're not what you like to pretend you are, are you? I bet you're not one of the bloody Powers That Bitch at all."

Jessica sighed. She was sick of the pretense, sick of trying to be someone else. The world could just go to hell, are far as she was concerned. "Alright, you win. I am a Power, but the others don't know I'm here. Cordelia and I came up with this plan. The Powers That Be have withdrawn, surrendered to the Senior Partners. We, being only new Powers, didn't want our world taken over by demons. So, Cordelia sacrificed herself, and I came down to steer the Fabulous Four in the right direction. Are you happy now? You can run along like a good little boy, and go spill your guts to Angel."

Spike snorted in disbelief. "That poof? Why would I tell him bloody anything?"

Jessica frowned, perplexed. "But isn't he your leader? The vampire with a soul, the champion?"

"Yeah, but he's also a miserable bastard. And he's not my leader," Spike retorted. "Speaking of, mind telling me what you were wailing about?"

"Nothing. Bad dream. Goodnight." Jessica lay back down on her bed and turned her back on the vampire.

Spike walked over and sat down on the corner of the large bed. Jessica's head whipped around, her eyes dark with fear. "You touch me, and I swear to God I'll-"

"It's your parents, isn't it," he said in an undertone.

Jessica's eyes widened. "How could you know that?" she demanded, her voice rising.

He shrugged. "Elementary. What happened?"

"There was a plane crash. No-one survived, except me and my sister. The Powers took me from the orphanage."

"Where's your sister?"

Jessica felt her temper rising. She rose, pulled Spike off her bed and all but shoved him out of the remnants of her door. "You've officially overstayed your welcome. Get out." She turned to walk back to her bed. As an afterthought she added, "And tell maintenance to get me a new door."

Spike's lips curved in a smile as he sauntered back down the corridor. This was going to be very, very interesting.