Ok, so bear with me on this story. It's literally a mess, and the most self-indulgent thing I've ever written. I took some stuff from the Constantine show, and some stuff from the Hellblazer comics, so it's not all accurate. I also put Ravenscar in America, next to Star City, for reasons. Just don't question half the things you read, and you should be good. Also, I'm American, and have no idea how to write British characters, so I apologize for every line of John's dialogue. Anyway.
"And bloody stay down!" John shouted at the now-unmoving body on the ground, panting. It had taken three visions from Zed, one life from Chas, and about thirty different spells to get the murdering monster sent back to Hell. John straightened, glancing over at Chas's body, which was slowly twitching back to life under Zed's worrying eye. She looked up at him.
"He's gonna be fine," she sighed, as if to assure herself rather than John. John merely nodded, catching his breath. Suddenly his phone rang, startling them. Zed looked shocked. "No one ever actually calls that number," she half-laughed, though her expression remained confused.
"Plenty of people request my services, love," John retorted, digging the phone out of his trench coat pocket. "This is John Constantine, what the hell do you want?" he answered.
"John, it's Oliver." Oliver sounded just as John remembered: stiff and serious.
"Ah," John held back a laugh. "Last time I saw you, you'd been messing around with the Lazarus Pit. What now?" He turned away from Zed's questioning face and Chas's groaning.
"I'm not...sure," Oliver said hesitantly.
"Bloody hell," John sighed. "At least give me an idea of what I'm gonna be working with, mate."
In answer, Oliver only said, "How quickly can you get to Star City?" After a brief pause, he added, slightly reluctantly, "I need your help."
Inwardly denying the thrill he felt at hearing those last words, especially from Oliver, John gave it a quick thought and said, "Give me a day, mate."
"Thank you, John." Oliver sounded relieved.
"Yeah, yeah." John sighed and hung up, turning to Zed, who was helping Chas sit up.
"Who was that?" Zed asked, gaze sharp and questioning.
John waved off the question. "Ah, just an old mate who needs some help. I'll have to go to Star City for a few days, you two want to come with or stay?"
"I got nothing else to do," Zed shrugged, but John could see the glint of curiosity in her eyes at the mention of Star City; she was probably wondering how he knew anyone from a city like that.
Chas let out a sigh. "I gotta make sure you don't get yourself killed." John grinned at that, knowing that Chas wouldn't let him out of his sight ever since they'd started their whole 'open relationship' thing.
"Oh, it's nothing like that," John reassured him, "hopefully. Anyway, we ought to leave now. By the sounds of it, this is somewhat of a time-sensitive issue. Chas, mate, you ok to drive?" Chas took a moment to stand and shake out his limbs, then nodded. John stretched, not looking forward to the long car ride, then said, "Alright, let's go."
"So, how do you know this guy?" Zed asked after they'd been on the road for a few hours.
John sighed against the passenger window, then turned to look at Zed, who was in the backseat. "Well, love, I met the man while obtaining the Staff of Horace, during which he saved my life. Then I paid him back for that by restoring his friend's soul a few years later. Now we've got some sort of agreement to help each other out whenever we need it." He turned back to the window, expecting that to be the end of it.
Zed made a dissatisfied humming noise. "Who is he?"
John let out another breath. "Name's Oliver Queen, he's some sort of ex-military vigilante who runs around the city serving out justice and whatnot."
"Oliver Queen?" Zed repeated, a note of disbelief in her voice.
Even Chas looked over at John in surprise. "Isn't he the mayor of Star City?" Chas broke in.
"Oh, is he now?" John shifted in his seat, trying to find a more comfortable position. "Good on him. Never woulda figured, with a personality like his."
"What do you mean?" Zed asked. "He was just another billionaire playboy, wasn't he? You said 'ex-military', how does that fit in?"
"Um…" John realized he really didn't know all that much about Oliver Queen, just what he'd observed while they were on the island together and when they'd met back up later. "Well, I met him on an island...he was with some sort of military organization then, I think...didn't pay much attention to it, honestly, just wanted to get the staff and go. That wasn't a place you wanted to stay at any longer than necessary, love."
"What was the staff?" Zed was leaning forward in her seat now, apparently excited by the line of questioning.
"Calm down," John grumbled, "It wasn't anything special, just something I had to grab before another man did. He was already on the island, too, it wouldn't have been long until he'd gotten his grubby little hands on it."
"Where is it now?"
"Don't remember." John was getting tired of answering her questions, and rolled down the window to light a cigarette. That girl is too curious for her own good, he thought somberly as he took a breath of smoke, hope it doesn't get her into too much trouble, that.
Finally, Chas drove past the 'Star City' sign and John started giving him annoyingly vague directions to Oliver's new lair or whatever he called it now. It was entertaining to Chas's straight face slowly slipping with every "oh wait, I meant right" and "sorry, I think you have to loop around up here" until it finally cracked and Chas growled, "Just give me the bloody directions, John." John finally showed mercy then, telling Chas that their final destination was the mayor's office. With a few muttered curses and "I shoulda known"s, Chas turned the car around (yet again) and circled back to the building that John had sent him past about four times already.
John leapt out of the cab almost before it'd stopped, making his way to the door as Zed scrambled after him and Chas methodically parked and turned off the car. The door was unlocked, and John let himself in, Zed and Chas following. "Hullo," John called out through the dark offices. "Oliver!" There was no answer. John turned to look at the two following him and shrugged.
"John, goddammit, slow down," Chas sounded annoyed, so John stopped and turned to him.
"What is it, mate?" John cocked his head, letting a smirk pull at his mouth. "Is this because of the bad directions?"
There was something dark and unfamiliar in Chas's eyes, and it suddenly began to unnerve John. "It's just…" Chas sighed, running a hand through his hair, and the unfamiliar darkness was gone, replaced by simple concern. "You always run off on your own. You said you'd stop doing that."
"I have, mate, I have. That's why I brought you two along with me, yeah?" John leaned into Chas's personal space, knowing the taller man hated when he did that with other people around. "I know you'll take good care of me, won't you?" he whispered, hot and breathy on Chas's neck. He felt a shudder run through Chas's body, and wondered what the consequences would be if he kissed him, right then.
Zed suddenly gasped and pointed towards a corner. "There," she gasped, "I see it, it's...an elevator?"
John leaned away from Chas with a smirk and clapped Zed on the shoulder. "Good on you, love. If I remember correctly, that leads to where we want to go." He walked into the corner, and the wall suddenly opened up before him, a sleek chrome elevator door opening after that.
"Couldn't anyone just accidentally walk into the corner and trigger the door opening?" Zed asked, brow furrowed as she followed John and Chas into the elevator.
"I guess so," John said, the faults in the system making no more sense to him now than they did the last time he'd visited. The elevator went down, then stopped soundlessly and opened up.
"Whoa," Zed breathed, practically floating into the tech- and weapon-filled room. Chas and John followed, glancing around for people and seeing only one seated at the computers.
"Hullo love," John called out, recognizing the blonde as the one who'd filled his ingredients list for his spell the last time he'd been there. The blonde started, spinning around in her chair with wide eyes.
"Oh!" she said, "You're, um...Constantine. We met. Before. When you saved Sara. Oliver said he called you again." She seemed to notice Chas for the first time, who was looming protectively at John's side. Then she turned to see Zed staring wide-eyed at the arrowheads. "Um. You brought friends. That's...good. Great. The more the merrier, right?"
John rolled his eyes at her strange, start-and-stop way of babbling. "Where's Oliver?" he asked.
"He's out. Out on the streets, I mean. Fighting crime and whatnot. Which, actually, I'm supposed to be helping with. So, I'm just gonna...go back to that. You can, um, have a seat, if you'd like." With that, she spun back to the computer and started typing away, muttering to herself every once in a while.
John exchanged a glance with Chas, then started meandering around the Arrow Cave, scrutinizing all the little gizmos he hadn't had a chance to check out the last time. He'd been in sort of a hurry, not caring enough to stick around and chat too much afterwards. "So, this Oliver guy," Chas started, voice low, "You trust him, huh?"
"He's one of my mates," John replied, "'Course I trust him." He turned, fixed his gaze on Chas. "What, you don't?"
Chas shrugged. "Just never met the guy. And you talk about him as if you respect him or something." He tilted his head slightly. "You don't respect anyone."
"Oh?" John felt a grin tugging his mouth up. "Is this jealousy I hear? Chas, you devil!" He was full-on smiling now, unable to help it when Chas had such a cute pout on his face. "Not to worry, love," John dropped his voice to a murmur, leaning forward and taking Chas's face in his hands. "You're the only one for me." He said it with a smirk, but placed a quick kiss on his lips afterward. When he pulled away, Chas's pout had disappeared and his cheeks had turned a delicious red.
"Guys, guys!" Zed bounded up to them, eyes shining. "This place is so cool! Better-looking than that dusty old millhouse anyway."
John pulled his hands from Chas's blushing cheeks, instead stuffing them into his pockets. "Don't speak lowly of Jasper's millhouse, love," John warned, half-serious. Before he could expand, though, the elevator doors opened up and he heard voices. "Ah, looks like they're back," he flicked his eyes towards the group of people coming in, then back to Zed. "You get to meet the mayor of Star City, love."
Zed was practically vibrating with excitement, but she hung back with John and Chas while the vigilantes made their way into the room and began discarding weapons and masks. They seemed to be in a good mood, so John ventured forth. "Oliver," he greeted the Green Arrow, who turned and took his hand with a rare smile.
"John!" Oliver replied, "It's good to see you, how've you been?"
"Oh, you know," John shrugged, not offering an answer more specific than that. He gestured behind him. "I brought friends this time. This is Zed Martin, psychic of sorts, and Chas Chandler, my best mate." He realized belatedly that he probably should've introduced Chas as more than just his mate, but he wasn't quite sure what they were yet. 'Boyfriend' didn't quite seem to fit, though he supposed that was the correct label. He glanced over at Chas, who seemed perfectly ok with the introduction, so he decided not to stress needlessly over it.
"Right, right," Oliver shook Chas's hand, but before he could take Zed's, John pulled him away.
"Ahh, may not want to do that, mate," John warned.
"Oh, sorry," Zed apologized, flustered, sticking her hands in her pockets. "I forget sometimes."
At Oliver's confused expression, John explained, "Her visions are sometimes triggered by skin to skin contact. It's not very pleasant for her when she touches people like...well, let's just leave it at 'people', eh?" But by the stone-cold expression on Oliver's face, John knew he had understood what he'd been about to say. People like us. The broken ones. The hurt ones.
Oliver seemed to shake it off. "Well, I don't think I ever properly introduced you to everyone here." He turned behind him, gesturing first to a man in black. "This is John Diggle; you can call him Diggle or Dig." He turned next to a small woman in red. "This is Thea, my sister." He turned to glare at John and said in a harder voice, "Off limits." Before John could even defend his honor, Oliver went on to point out a taller woman in black. "This is Laurel Lance, also off limits." He turned next to the blonde at the computers. "And that is Felicity Smoak. Also incredibly off limits."
"Off limits?" Zed repeated with a laugh. She tried to say more, but dissolved into more laughter. John glared at her, but it only seemed to make her laugh harder. Soon enough Chas joined in, and John crossed his arms and glowered at the both of them while the rest of Team Arrow looked on with confused smiles.
"Oh, go on then, laugh," John snapped, "Laugh at the pain and hardships of my non-singleness. Go on."
Oliver made a choking sound behind him. "John?" he gasped, "You're...you're not single? Since when? And how? And who?"
"Oh, leave it," John sighed, fishing a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it. "I didn't come here for a social chat, now, did I? And you still haven't told me why, exactly, I am here."
"Right," the blonde―Felicity, John remembered―spoke up, turning back to the computer. The rest of Team Arrow seemed to converge around her, so John hopped up onto the raised center of the room and watched the monitor as she worked to bring up page after page of information. John caught glimpses of death certificates, newspaper headlines about murder and insanity, and one word that stood out above the rest: Ravenscar.
"Bloody hell, you've got to be joking," John groaned. "Tell me you didn't call me because of that asylum, please tell me you didn't call me because of that damn asylum."
Oliver gave him a strange look. "No, we called you because of the zombies, John."
John let out a sigh of relief. "Alright. Zombies. That sounds simple enough. Gimme the details, mate."
Felicity answered this time. "Well, there've been a number of escapees from this Ravenscar mental asylum, which is only one town over from Star City. Each escapee has a death certificate of just a few days prior to his or her escape, and has immediately gone on a killing spree once they got free. Normally I'd just think that staff were doctoring the reports to allow these escapes, but every encounter we've had with one of them has been strange; they seem to have superhuman strength and speed, and don't seem to feel pain. We haven't been able to subdue one without killing it. And so, we've begun to call them zombies." She gave John a sideways glance. "Are they zombies?"
Zed spoke up, enthusiasm bubbling up in her voice. "It sounds just like that one guy we found in―"
"No, no, shut up for a moment, love," John muttered, taking out another cigarette, pleased when no one complained about his smoking. He squinted at the monitor. "There," he pointed, "Bring up that article." Felicity zoomed in on a newspaper clipping about the recent escapees from Ravenscar. 'All of these patients were previously under the care of Doctor Roger Huntoon, who claims that their therapy had been going well until their escapes…' "Ah, shite," John mumbled, pacing once around the small circle, then again. He finished his cigarette, flicked it to the ground, stomped on it. "Fuckin' pathetic excuse for a doctor, that one," he finally said, pointing accusingly at the monitor. "I guarantee this is all his fault."
"Who?" They all looked back at the screen. Felicity read aloud, "Doctor Roger Huntoon?"
"Yep, that's the bloody wanker. Shoulda killed him when I had the chance, that's what I shoulda done, see," John let out a frustrated breath, pacing a few more laps while Team Arrow looked on with slightly worried expressions.
Chas was the first to speak, his voice gentle and soft. "John, you know killing is never―"
"Never what, Chas?" John interrupted, feeling the Hellfire blazing just beneath his skin, begging to be let out and just burn something, anything, preferably that doctor's bloody face. "He's an evil one, I'm telling you. Deserves to burn in hell for all he's done. And now he's back at it, eh? I'll kill him for sure this time, no more petty torture. It obviously doesn't work on someone as insane as him."
"Torture?" Oliver echoed. "John, who is this guy?"
"A shite doctor," John snapped. "And I call dibs on killing him. So don't you even think about doing it first, alright?"
Oliver held up his hands in surrender. "Uh, ok...do you know what these zombie things are?"
"Oh, yeah," John nodded, "they're the patients he's failed and doesn't care enough to fix again, so they're left with nothing but the natural instinct to kill every threat they see. They're just normal people, see, but the lack of most of their brain activity allows adrenaline and the like to overpower their bodies and send them into overdrive. It ultimately kills them, but Doctor Huntoon"―he says the name with a sneer―"doesn't give a bloody rat's arse."
There was a moment of silence while Team Arrow comprehended the fact that they'd been killing innocent, mentally unhinged humans. John lit another cigarette and daydreamed of drowning his memories of that asylum in whiskey. I probably will, once I get to whatever shite motel I'll be staying in tonight, if Chas doesn't stop me first, John thought morosely. Now with the thought of whiskey in his mind, he had to ask: "You got any alcohol down here?"
"John," Chas said: a warning.
"Fine, fine," John sighed, "but that means you're buying me a bottle when we get to the motel."
"He always buys the bottle," Zed broke in absentmindedly, casually reaching over to pat John's arm. Just before her fingers could touch the skin of his hand, John jumped back as if struck by lightning, and Zed pulled back just as quickly. "Sorry," she breathed.
"I've warned you," John said, his voice low and on the verge of trembling, though he'll never admit it. "Tread carefully, Zed." He tossed his dead cigarette to the floor, grabbed another with barely-shaking hands. Casting a glance over the dead-silent Team Arrow, he rolled his eyes and asked sarcastically, "What, you want us to take it outside?" His voice was edged with a bit too much venom, but no one seemed to care.
Oliver was the only one brave enough to step forward and ask straight-up, "John, what's your history with this doctor, and this asylum?"
For a moment John was silent, trying to think of a way to answer that without really answering it. Eventually he simply said, "That's not something you get to ask, mate," and, thankfully, Oliver left it at that. John paced some more; he was really starting to crave a good bottle of whiskey. "Well, I'll be back here tomorrow," John said cheerily, grabbing Chas by the arm and tugging him towards the elevator. "I'll sort out your problem for you then."
"John, wait a minute," Chas protested, but John dragged him into the elevator and jabbed at the button when it took too long to start moving.
Zed stayed behind. "I'll meet you guys at the motel," she waved with a grin, but the rest of Team Arrow was silent and open-mouthed as the elevator doors finally closed. John sagged against the wall, groaning.
"Goddamn Ravenscar," he sighed, glancing up at Chas. "I do not need to remember that place. Or that damned doctor. I should just leave, shouldn't I?"
"No, John," Chas said quietly, "Oliver's your friend, right? And you said you'd help him out. So you have to help him out. That's what friends do, they make sacrifices for each other." John was silent for a few moments, before he wordlessly reached over and took Chas's hand in a rare show of emotion. Chas said nothing, just squeezing back in reassurance.