Resolution and Redux
The world moves in circles.
Drenched to the skin, a desperate boyish figure on his doorstep. The white of her clothing stuck to her, hiding nothing. A bruise on the cheek. An officer of the law at her side.
"She said she lived with you. Now if that anit the case let me know so I can go lock her up at Ravenscar, where we found her. " The officer is fat, balding and speaks from behind reflective aviator sunglasses, even though; the day is full rain and gloomy sunless skies. Roughly the officer shoves his captive forward. "Take a look."
Reluctantly Constantine raises his eyes. He knows who she is. Desperate eyes beg him. Please. She killed Chaz. Innocent. Blameless. She killed Chaz . The officer jostles the drenched angel again. "Well?" The policeman is becoming impatient. Please. Without her he would be dead and damned, in Satan's grasp.
Constantine nods by way of reply and opens his door a little wider. Ignoring the angel he shuffles over to the table and sits down, staring back at the misanthrope who still stands in the opened door, uncertainly.
"So to what do I owe the honour?" He lights a cigarette.
She smiles, and some of the familiar arrogance comes back into her face. "I've missed you too." Constantine breathes out smoke. Her confidence fades away like ether. "I owe you Constantine; I offer my services to you."
"You have nowhere else to go do you?"
She seems to shrink in on herself, mumbles a prayer under her breath. "No."
"I need a driver, can you drive?"
"I was an Angel of the Lord, I am not a laborer. I would be your partner against the forces of Satan, not your servant."
Constantine stares, another a beat of time passes, "shame I am short a servant."
Guilt, she will not show it to him, she is, was a servant, all her life was given for His glory. Another beat. But had she been wrong? Constantine stubs out his cigarette and stands. This is his price. Outside is cold and wet, unforgiving. The policeman wanted to lock her up. To take her freedom because she spoke the word of the lord too freely. God loves her, as he loves them all, but she for the first time she feels doubt. God's voice seems far from her, God's plan even farther away than before. This man , this mortal is as close as she can get to the plan.
"I could learn."
Constantine laughs. A fallen angel, one of god's mightiest servants, is offering to drive him around. The absurdity of this moment is not without pain.
"I'll teach you." He frowns because he would rather be teaching another.
The former Angel does not miss the emotion the crosses his face. She starts to speak the words of God's love, comforting words she imagines. But he stops the words by passing her a towel and an angry glare.
"You're dripping on my rug."
"Sorry." She stammers. And steps off to dry herself with the towel, softness unexpected.
The exorcist does not acknowledge her words and instead walks away.
X
"I need some new clothes," The former angel says to herself as she stares into Constantine's closet.
"Nice shirts." She murmurs out loud to herself, and picks one out of the closet, trying it on for size. "Maybe a tie?" she rummaged through his wardrobe, "Black, black? What else do you have? Oh this one's nice, purple… mmh." She glances out of the closet and down the hall to the still sleeping Constantine. Bottle of wine at his side. She returns to the closet, "pants, pants may need work."
One sharp pair of scissors later, Gabriel assessed herself in the mirror.
Boyish almost asexual, except for the now adjusted cut of the pants.
"That's a 500 dollar shirt by the way."
"Where did you come by this wonderful tie?"
"It was a present from a friend."
"A girl?" the angelic face twists with a conspirator's smirk.
X
As she jams the gears for a sixth time, the car lurches forward and stops. Constantine has to brace himself against the dash. The ex-Angel curses.
"I need a smoke." He gets out leaving her staring at the wheel of the steel beast that would not do her bidding. Accursed thing! Perhaps these were the devil's invention after all. Some of the so called 'environmentalists' had always claimed so in their prayers.
"Get out, come on, we'll walk. " He speaks through the window. Relieved she climbs out of the car.
"Get the bags."
"Oh." He waits and when she has collected his black bag and the heavy bible that travels with him, they start down the footpath. The sun graces down on them both.
Home of the Devil
They arrive outside a block of flats, officers of the law, two police cars, and a wiry man screaming from the balcony, baby clutched tightly in his arms. "Come on come and get me. The little ones always suffer!" The man holds the baby out in front of him offering the child to the police; his eyes roam wildly, spittle collecting in the corner of his mouth.
"Constantine, that one has the look of the devil in his eyes." John caught himself almost watching for the girl's eyes to turn golden with the knowledge of her pronouncement, when they didn't he merely grunted. Little of Gabriel's powers remained, but she seemed to have more than just an instinct for the demonic.
From the small crowd of people, gathered to watch the madness, came a familiar face.
"John." She smiled with warmth.
"Angela." She looked happy and oh so self-assured, controlling the whole situation, giving instruction to the other officers. Her new powers held in check had only added to her success in the department. "So what do we have here?" Exoticisms however remained outside her department. The occult had almost gotten her killed once; she had no wish to pursue it further. She led him through the crowd, as she explained the situation with the man, whom she could easily see as possessed. Seemly forgotten, the former angel trailed behind them.
"How's the new apprentice?"
"How do you want me to do this?" Testily Constantine changed the subject.
"That good huh? Is she wearing your shirt? And the tie I gave you?"
"Yes. She didn't have anything of her own. "
"Are you sleeping with her?"
"Jealous?"
She gave him a look, "No."
"Dodson! I think he's gunna jump."
"Hell." Angela became serious, "I will take you up through the back of the apartment myself."
X
The man stands on the catwalk, wind racing up around him. The baby is screaming, the wild cries scratching against the city's usual din.
Inside the apartment they creep through debris and junk that is piling up against the walls.
Gabriel tripped on a stack of cans, earning her an immediate look of displeasure from both Dodson and Constantine. The man on the ledge turns, reacting to the sound.
"Don't come any closer. I'll drop 'im I swear."
They all stop. "It's alright, sir, we are not coming closer." Angela attempts to soothe the man.
Gabriel carefully picks up the tins she has knocked over murmuring a sorry to the others; they ignore her, as she places the rusted cola tin instinct urges to look up. Daubed across the ceiling in blood is an ancient symbol. A symbol she recognizes. Wordlessly she taps the exorcist on the shoulder. He follows her glance to the ceiling.
"Is that?"
"Yes."
The symbol invoking Baal glowed with power.
With one hand he reached out to stop Angela getting closer to the man, with the other he pulled out his medallions. Symbols, faces, saints, all hung together on a convenient ring. How to do this? How: The symbol invoking Baal must be destroyed; the man must be freed from his possession; The baby had to be rescued. One of Constantine's icons began to glow brightly illuminating the way, it was Dymphna, the patron saint of wayward mothers. With his second sight Constantine saw the dead mother of the child in question appeared by the man's side. Oh lovely a domestic.
Dodson noticed the ghost as well, "how do you think we play this one?"
"Were you ever in a football team Angela?"
"No! What a time to ask."
"But you played something right."
"Basketball."
"Perfect."
Constant's medal glowed with heat in his hand. The ghost shouted at the man, who now demon possessed could see the dead mother of his child. "Oh Jody, when did you get in?"
"I am dead Kenneth remember you killed me." She shouted her silhouette billowing black with the rage she felt. The two traded curses back and forth. The junk in the room lifted hurling itself at the man. He wobbled.
"He's your only son! Jody went to see him splat!"
John pulled out the medallion and walked forwards.
"John we need to get rid of that symbol first, under the auspices of Baal, all manner of evil may come forth."
"It's too high to reach up."
John nodded, considered the problem and then casually tossed his lighter to his new apprentice. Gabriel fumbled as she caught it, and looked an askance at the same time.
"Burn it."
"John we'll die. People can't survive fire." The former angel said with disbelief.
"Angelia go down to the next floor, find the window below this one and get ready to catch the kid when he drops it."
"You're serious?" Angelia asked with a similar look of incredulity on her face. "What are you going to do?"
"What I always do," john replied with all of his usual arrogance and charm.
The spiders began to crawl out of the detritus of the room. "Oh fuck."
"Apprentice! Hey!" Gabriel looked up from the spiders. "The ceiling. Now!"
"And I catch the baby, great." Angela ran from the room.
the flames quickly caught and spread. Gabriel jumped backwards towards the window and john. The evil symbol was immolated. John felt the power change, and began the Latin words that would cleanse the man. Gabriel backed closer to John shielding her face from the flames. The man on the ledge gazed spelled bound at Constantine, the baby still clutched tightly in his arms.
"John!" Gabriel stumble toward the window.
Below Angelia looked up. John climbed out on to the ledge symbol of power in his hand.
Angela called up to john to hurry, but the symbol of Baal had had a powerful demon and John needed more time. Inside Gabriel coughed against the choking flames.
"John we need to get out."
And as Gabriel realized the door was now unreachable . she could hear a hissing sound,
"john what's that…' she didn't get time to finish. Instinct alone guided her to fall to the floor calling out a warning as she did so. John reacted with the experience of years, and ducked as the gas blasted its way out of the apartment building.
The man on the ledge, dropped the baby as the flames embraced him.
Angela held out her arms and caught the new born even as the mans screams deafened the block. He fell as a human torch, he last act of humanity to release his child.
He died even as the demons left him.
X
John and Gabriel had edged their way along the windows until they had come to the fire stairs and climbed down.
Waiting by an ambulance was Angela , the baby cradled safely in her arms.
John still had smoke coming off his jacket. Gabriel watched the building burn.
"john " Angela acknowledged. She looked positively maternal to Constantine as he watched her comfort the child. "I don't even know his name." Angela smiled.
John smiled a little before breaking out in a deep cough.
She frowned as she watched him, the sight familiar, his complexion as pale as when he had pulled her from the pool.
"Fine," he managed, "just ." it was wrong for him to long for a cigarette at this moment. He coughed again, and tried to brush off some of the ash off his shirt. "Just caught a bit of smoke." He smiled back, "you knew ." Constantine meant about the man's possession.
He wiped small smudged of dirt form her face.
"I knew." She replied, looking into his eyes.
He was standing so close. The moment bound them together. John felt a tug on his sleeve.
"John!" and the moment was gone. Constantine rewarded Gabriel with a glare. But the former angel , merely pointed. From beneath the ruins of the still burning building, a line of spiders crawled into man holes on the street .
Ever observant Angela asked with a look of concern at john. He met her gaze and smiled almost too easily,
"Well it's nothing good."
Gabriel still watching the parade of insects, frowned, and with all of her former aura of authority, pronounced. "Baal has risen."