Ella was waiting for them outside the crime scene. "Hey. You might want to wear these," she greeted them. She held out two packets of bright blue plastic shoe covers. The kind usually worn by the forensics team while they were still processing the scene.

"Whyever would I do that?" Lucifer asked, eyeing the things with distaste. Maybe they clashed with his suit or something. Chloe took one of the packets and put them on. If Ella was advising to wear them, she must have a good reason.

"You'll see." Ella shrugged as Lucifer refused the covers a second time and waved them in.

The scene inside forced Chloe to pause and close her eyes. She swallowed back the rising gorge. Although the temptation was great to take a deep breath, instead she tried to keep it as shallow as possible. No need to get a good whiff of this scene.

"Oh my," was Lucifer's immediate comment. "Someone knew what they were doing."

The victim was… butchered. Literally. Her torso hung in the centre of the room, dangling from the light fixture. Most of her organs and limbs were arrayed on various items of furniture. The head was prominently displayed on the dresser. Her eyes had been gouged out.

And blood was everywhere. Where the carpets and soft furnishings weren't soaked, they had bloody streaks running all over them.

"Victim is probably Helena Marquez," Ella supplied. She nodded at the skull. "We'll have to wait for dental records to confirm"

Chloe took the notes from the officers that had been first on scene. She read their conclusions. "But this is her house, and she was confirmed to be here the day before yesterday. She took takeout delivery. For two." The very thought of food right now made her pause and suppress the urge to retch.

"Her heart is missing," Lucifer observed. He'd taken a turn around the room, inspecting each of the items on display. He was remarkably unaffected by the gore. Or perhaps he was better at hiding his disgust.

"Good catch, Lucifer! Yeah, we're still trying to find it." Ella seemed unaffected, as well. But then you didn't become a forensics specialist without a strong stomach.

A thought occurred that did make her retch. She coughed to cover it. "You don't think whoever did this took a trophy, do you?"

-x-

Helena Marquez turned out to be one of a whole streak of victims. She wasn't even the first – only the first in LA. Reports came in, from all over the state and outside it. Men and women, but mostly women, found killed and butchered in their own homes. The heart was missing every time.

At least there was a chance for more patterns to emerge.

Most of the victims were living on their own. In the two cases where they weren't there had actually been two victims – both members of the household. In several cases, however, a man had been seen at the victim's home a few days before.

The description of their suspect was narrowing down. Male, average height and with blond or light brown hair. We was usually seen wearing a beige trenchcoat despite the California weather. A smoker. British or Australian accent.

Today the breakthrough had come. They got CCTV footage from San Diego taken a few days before the murder. It showed the couple that had been murdered there. They were together with a man matching the description of their suspect. An actual image, finally. Lucifer had looked confused when he saw the picture. But he'd provided a name. A name that turned out to be correct.

The state-wide APB went out that day. For John Constantine.

-x-

"Where do you know this guy from, anyway?" Chloe asked. Lucifer was reading the case notes for the Constantine case again. He was somehow lounging in the office chair opposite her desk, feet propped up next to the stack of casefiles.

The case had passed from their hands. John Constantine was travelling all over the state. They were still getting the APB reports. Because the crime scenes were so spread out, the FBI was muscling in on the case, too. Unless Constantine came back to LA, it was unlikely they'd ever get their hands on him.

But Lucifer remained oddly interested in the case, regardless. He looked up. "Oh, I don't know him personally. He had a lot of dealings with some … associates of mine," He paused while Chloe frowned. "Caused quite a lot of upset, as a matter of fact." He went back to studying the crime scene photos. "But this seems…rather unlike what I'd heard of him."

"Well, we'll find out when someone arrests him."

"By all accounts, he's rather good at avoiding that situation. I mean, look at this." Lucifer indicated the reports that had piled up. "It seems unlikely that the authorities will ever lay hands on him."

"We can't put a bounty out on a suspect, Lucifer."

"You can't." Lucifer's phone beeped. He checked the text, then closed the folder. His feet hit the ground as he levered himself out of the chair. "Some business came up. I'll be out of town for a few days."

Chloe frowned. The way Lucifer had said 'business' combined with the context of their conversation was ... suspicious. "This business doesn't have anything do with our case, does it?"

Lucifer hesitated. "There's someone a friend thought I should meet. I'm going to meet him."

That wasn't a no. She reached out a hand to stop Lucifer from walking out the door. "Lucifer, please turn Constantine in if you find him. Don't do anything… impulsive."

Lucifer looked at her for a long while, poker face in place. "If it should come to that, I will deliver the killer to the authorities, Detective. I promise."

"Alive, and unharmed, yes?"

"Alive," Lucifer said through his teeth. "And as unharmed as I can manage." He tore loose, and was gone.

-x-

John Constantine sighed as he got off the bus at the Star City depot. It hadn't been his first choice to come here. He had too many friends here already and this would bring trouble straight to their doorstep. But he was fast running out of places to run.

He'd buggered an exorcism, materialising the demon instead of casting it out. The little girl that had been possessed was fine. The same could not be said of the priest who had called John in. Nor of the woman who'd been kind - stupid - enough to open her doors to him. John had barely gotten away from the demon that time. And now he had to keep running. Every time he stopped anywhere, the people he came into contact with ended up dead.

Par for the course for John Constantine. But this was getting ridiculous.

Hopefully he could avoid Oliver and his lot here – they had enough trouble to get on with. Shouldn't be too hard. Fugitives rarely had anything to do with the people aspiring to the Mayor's office, after all.

Someone was waving at him. Oliver Queen. Looked like the politician was choosing to have something to do with the fugitive anyway.

"Bloody hell, Oliver, what are you doing here?" John asked him when he got close enough.

"Hello to you, too, John." Oliver held up a file. "Quentin told me you might be showing up. Looks like you're in some trouble." Constantine took the file. It was a police APB with his picture. And a list of his recent stops as symbolised by names of victims. The arrow pointed quite clearly at Star City.

"What did you get yourself into, John?"

"Something nasty that I need to get myself out of on my own, Oliver. I can't involve you. I'd get you killed."

Oliver shook his head. "Too late, John. It's not just the police. The Russians had people looking out for you, too. I'm here to make sure you stay off everyone's radar. He stood aside, gesturing John toward the exit.

They got out of the bus station quickly and quietly. So far, so good. Oliver still had his contacts and his hideouts. He also knew exactly how to avoid all the security cameras.

They had stopped off at a minor hideout to give Oliver the chance to change into his Arrow outfit. It meant he was armed, and even if they did get caught on camera, it wouldn't show his face. The Green Arrow had been associated with John Constantine before. Oliver Queen hadn't. At least not in public.

They were now at yet another safehouse. "You should be fine here for tonight," Oliver said. "Tomorrow we can figure out how to get you out of town unnoticed."

"That'd be great. I really just need some place to lay low."

This place should be safe enough. It was in one of Star City's infamous industrial back alleys. It was dark, which was less ideal. But it was also abandoned and strewn with rubbish, and that should allow him to hear any threat coming at least.

Or not.

"Game's over, Johnny-boy. Better come quietly, now." A voice called out from the shadows. John looked up. There was something familiar about that voice.

Oliver was already moving away from him, into the shadows. His bow was drawn back, arrow at the ready.

"I must admit, you've been a bit bloodier even than I'm used to from you," the voice from the shadows continued. The source of the voice was now stepping into the light. John cursed and threw the strongest shield he could get together at such short notice.

The figure, tall, dark-haired and dressed as sharp as a freshly whetted knife, didn't even flinch. He just stepped through the spell. What else could you expect of the Devil himself? Looked like that demon he'd been evading had called in the big boss. John backed away.

No use. There was no escaping this. Didn't mean he couldn't try. Oliver bellowed a stop order, but John couldn't tell who it was aimed at. He turned tail and ran.

Right into Satan's arms. John hadn't seen him move. Neither had Oliver. An arrow flew uselessly through the air where the Devil had been only a moment ago.

"How do you do it, Constantine?" Satan asked as he lifted John by the collar. "How do you get people defending you, all the while leaving a trail of people you killed?" He reached out with the hand that wasn't holding John in the air and plucked a second arrow out of flight.

Satan dropped the arrow and turned his gaze on Oliver. "Please cease your nuisance, Robin Hood. I'll deal with you later."

He turned back to Constantine. John hoped Oliver would take the hint and get out, get help. Like an exorcist or three. "Now tell me, Johnny-boy. Why did you kill those people? What did you want with them?" He could feel the power behind the questions, compelling truth.

Well, that was an easy answer, at least. Constantine looked the Devil in the eye and said: "I didn't kill them, you wanker." Then he spat Satan right in the eye.

The grip on John's collar remained undiminished, but John's words did have an effect. Satan looked… surprised. His eyebrows shot up. "You… didn't?" He held John gaze while wiping the spit off his face. Then he let John down, though he didn't let go yet. "You really didn't. Then why?"

"You tell me," Oliver said in his Arrow voice. His silhouette was outlined in the alley entrance. He had an arrow nocked and aimed at the Devil. Thea and the other woman – Laurel – were on the rooftops, flanking the both of them. "Let him go and we can talk."

The Devil… started laughing. "I'd heard stories of the Star City vigilantes! Didn't think I'd get a full intro, though." Now he did release John, addressing him at the same time. "You keep interesting company."

Constantine stepped back, massaging his throat. Satan paid him no further mind. Good. That gave him time go get a proper spell set up. He had most of the ingredients already together. That was a stroke of good luck. He'd intended them to trap the demon after him, but they should do to hold the Devil long enough to get away, at least

Of course, the only reason John had freedom to move now was because Oliver was drawing all the attention. The Devil sauntered toward him, undeterred by the arrow aimed at his chest. Well, he'd plucked one out of the air earlier – not like these things did a lot of damage. "So, what do we have here, then? One Robin Hood, looking for his Sherriff." He turned his head, catching Thea in his sights. "And there's Will Scarlett! Though it's Wilhelmina rather than William by the looks of it." Now Laurel came to his attention. "Does that make you Maid Marian?"

All this talk had taken him into Oliver's hand-to-hand range. Oliver dropped his bow and went for a punch while Satan was distracted by Laurel. It didn't matter. The Devil caught the punch in a single hand, focus back on his assailant.

His other hand grabbed Oliver's chin, forcing him to look into the Devil's eyes. "So what does Robin want, eh?" He looked Oliver over, slowly. "What drives a man to dress up in green leather? Not that it's not attractive."

"Go to hell," Oliver ground out.

"Been there, done that, I'm afraid," Satan said. Somewhere behind Constantine, yellow lightning flickered. It added nicely to the atmosphere. "But we're not talking about me now. What do you want?"

Oliver stopped struggling. Before he could say more, Laurel triggered some sort of sonic weapon. It threw the Devil off balance, even as Oliver crumbled with him.

And that was the last Constantine saw, as the bolt of lightning whisked him away.

-x-

How's your business going?

Splendid! My contact's friends have very… surprising skills. This could be quite entertaining.

Do I want to know?

… Probably not.

-x-

For a short time, it was hard to get any kind of impression, except movement.

When the world returned, Constantine was somewhere else. Oliver's den. The crackling lightning had already abandoned him. Now it delivered Oliver, Thea and Laurel in turn, all before Constantine managed to find his balance.

"What the bloody hell?"

The lightning bolt resolved itself into a person reclining into one of the den's expensive swivel chairs, feet resting on the console. "Hi," he said, giving a little wave "I'm Barry." He was dressed in red leather, of a much brighter variation than Thea. A cowl hung off the back of his tunic. "And you're welcome, by the way."

"John Constantine, meet Barry Allen. Otherwise known as the Flash." Oliver moved up to make introductions. "Your friend was moving so fast earlier, I thought I'd bring in our own speedster."

"That wasn't a speedster, mate." Constantine pointed in the general direction of the door, all other directions lost in the muddle. "And I'll bet we only got away because we surprised him." He headed toward the door, digging in his pockets for his spell supplies. "This is the only entrance, yeah?" He drew a circle on the floor inside the door, and started adding candles and runes at strategic points.

"Whoa, what the hell is this?" Barry spoke up. He clearly knew as much about John as Constantine knew about him.

Thankfully Thea did know Constantine, so she filled Barry in. "It's a magic circle."

"Magic? As in 'sufficiently advanced technology'?" Barry got up out of the chair to inspect John's work. Oliver stood aside for him.

John put the finishing touches on his circle and murmured the closing spell under his breath. The circle lit up. "Magic as in magic." At Barry's sceptical frown, he continued. "We're dealing with forces beyond our control here." He gave the circle another once-over, inspecting it for flaws. "Even this won't hold him long."

"Care to tell us what we're dealing with, John?" Oliver asked. "Because what he did to me felt… strange."

"Lucky you." John looked Oliver straight in the eye as all four of the others gathered around him. "You went up against the Devil himself. A strange feeling is the least he could have caused." Oliver's eyes widened.

"The Devil." Barry stated baldly.

"He looked pretty normal," Thea said at about the same time. "I mean, so does Damien Dahrk, but this guy didn't look all that different."

"We know that Darhk doesn't need to look threatening either," Laurel reminded Thea. "Looking normal doesn't have to mean anything."

"Darhk… feels darker, though," Thea replied, frowning. "I mean he was attacking a friend, so something's up but…" She paused. "I don't know."

"Hold up." Barry interrupted. "You really do mean the Devil? Satan, horns and a tail, Lord of Lies and all that?"

"Speak of him and he shall appear, indeed," a new voice said.