disclaimer: not mine. except for the stuff that came outta my head. that's mine.

Salt Sea, Jordan

Underneath the Dead Sea It stirred. Something menacing. Something real. It pulsed once. Twice- beckoning.

Slowly and far away fragmented flesh and bone moved. Dragging themselves over continents, past concrete and glass, through sand and stone.

Coalescing.

In Its dwelling beneath the sea floor It shivered in predatory anticipation. The convergence would take time but it was done; His servant had signed the contract.

Balthazar was coming to Him.

six months later

It was the squeaking that woke him.

SQUEE-eak

SQUEE-eak

SQUEE-eak

John Constantine slowly came to awareness knowing the interloper to be benign. Or at least non-threatening. He didn't bother opening his eyes.

Damn. The crick in his neck had been instant and deep. He'd been so drained lately he often woke to find himself in the most unlikely, and uncomfortable, places. The continuous march of long days that lasted well into the nights and sometimes well into the next was taking a toll.

His last case in particular had been incredibly brutal; he deemed it an accomplishment that he'd managed to get out of the blood-stained garments he'd been forced to live in two days straight before crashing. Was it his paranoia or had the number of demonic attacks in the last few months quadrupled?

John gave a small grunt. He doubted it was paranoia.

He'd still been too exhausted to be aware of a case of breaking and entering in his own home. Even if the intruder was familiar as this one.

"What are you doing in my bathroom?" he rasped and grimaced at the sound.

SQUEE-eak

SQUEE-eak

SQUEE- Constantine's hand shot out and grabbed the offending toy from the Halfling. He threw it across the room where it landed with a small 'squeak!'

"You look like hell."

Eyes finally opened he stared up into Chas's amused face. The Halfling was grinning down at him and the rubber duck was back in his hand.

"You look… not like an angel."

The other's grin turned cheesy. "They're retractable!"

Constantine snorted and rolled his eyes. "To what do I owe the dubious pleasure?"

There might have been a flash of something in Chas's eyes but it was gone too fast to interpret. "Drawing lines in the sand now, John?" he murmured. He gave the duck another squeeze, half-heartedly this time.

Squee-eak

He stood from his perch on the edge of the tub and began looking around the large washroom as Constantine observed him. Chas hadn't really changed much since his death. Still that restless energy, still such an air of youthfulness about him. Just looking at the half-angel made the psychic feel the weariness in his bones sink all the way to his soul.

"Nice place you got here. You're almost in the suburbs, John. I'm shocked."

He rose from the bath, not bothering to cover up. Chas had seen him in all forms of disarray. Bloody, bruised, broken- nudity was nothing and nothing new.

He'd bought the creaking old house not too long after his apprentice's death. He hadn't intended to live in it. But he was here now and had bought it at twice the asking price because something about it had called to him. He'd felt… well, he wasn't too interested in examining his feelings then anytime soon.

"It was a good investment." He finally said when the silence had stretched too long. It was the excuse he'd given himself at the time, too. Chas looked at him sideways but let it go.

"I'm sure there's plenty of interest in the area. Have you checked any of it out?"

The question sounded innocent but Constantine was instantly wary. "If you recall, my historian friend recently passed."

Chas didn't rise to the bait, "I hear the twins are in Ecuador these days."

"Yeah, well, bully for them."

Chas huffed a laugh. "Geez, John. Talking to you is like pulling teeth." He was quiet for a moment and his demeanor changed. The psychic tensed further, waiting- knowing he wasn't going to like what came next.

"Angela Dodson's gonna visit you soon."

Constantine let out the ragged breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "And why would she do that?"

"Take care of yourself, John," the Halfling admonished and was gone.

"Well, shit."

A/N: How is it?