Huge thanks for all the support behind this story. I'm frankly amazed by all of you and I cannot say it enough - thank you so much.

DragonsintheMoonlight: Huge thanks to your review, it's actually why this new chapter is getting posted so soon. As for your questions, I'll address them here. You're definitely going to see Constantine do some magic soon. Also, I hope to get into his past but I'm going to see how the story flows first. Finally, I haven't decided about the POV yet. I'm don't want to lock myself into one person so I'm trying to keep it neutral (unfortunately Oliver just keeps jumping in somehow lol).

Castiel-Deserves-Better: Thanks for addressing my transcript anxiety. Tbh, I have absolutely zero experience in fictional writing, so thanks for settling that. I'm just really glad you like this story!

Everyone else: I didn't want to fill the page with these responses so if you left a review, just know how thankful I am. It really means the world to me. Now, without further ado, here we go.

Note there's also a bit of language in this - I refuse to accept that Constantine doesn't curse.

Chapter Four: Forged in Flames

…

…

The next morning, Constantine awoke with a stiff neck. At least, he assumed it was morning. The lack of windows gave the lair a sense of timelessness, as though nothing on the outside had any influence on what was happening inside. Of course, he was no stranger to such rooms. Exploring ancient temples and uncovering lost artifacts was part of his job after all. Still, it was slightly unsettling to get this feeling in such a modern setting.

Though not nearly as unsettling as the eyes he suddenly sensed staring at him.

With a sharp gasp, he propelled himself away from the couch - unable to rise properly due to his numb legs - and the curious face mere inches away from his own.

"Fucking hell," he gasped, placing a hand over his racing heart. "Have you ever heard of personal space? Christ Almighty."

"I'm sorry," Sara sputtered, equally startled by the man's violent reaction. "I was just making sure you were…" she trailed off, quietly fidgeting with her hands.

"That I was what?"

"Well, real, I suppose," she muttered bashfully.

"Oh trust me luv, I'm real - even if you just did your best to give me a damn heart attack," he complained, straightening his coat and glaring at the wrinkles in it.

"Sorry," Sara tried again. Constantine merely rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm used to it," he replied darkly. He carefully stood, cautious of the lack of feeling in his legs, and groaned.

"God, I know I have low standards but that floor is brutal," Constantine mumbled to himself. He rolled his neck, grimacing when the motion resulted in a loud pop. "Honestly, is it asking too much for a comfortable place to kip?"

Sara merely watched with wide eyes, apparently still star-stricken by the man before her.

"Oh knock it off, will you?" Constantine shot over his shoulder in annoyance. Sara quickly averted her gaze, going back to playing with her hands.

Constantine simply sighed to himself and replayed yesterday's events in his mind as he wandered around the lair.

That spell must've taken more out of me than I thought, he thought to himself. For he had no recollection of falling asleep or even where the rest of the team had gone. In fact, everything after Sara waking up was a bit of a blur, much to his discomfort.

He continued his little stroll, picking up various objects and examining them. He chuckled to himself when he picked up one of Oliver's arrows. Who knew Oliver Queen spent his time as a spandex clad Robin Hood, he laughed to himself. Still, his mirth was short-lived when he remembered who exactly they were going to be facing. These weapons were nothing compared to Dark's power and he had the unsettling feeling that this would end up as a simple showdown between the two magicians.

To make matters worse, Constantine wasn't entirely sure he would win that fight.

Before he could follow that train of thought to its inevitable conclusion - Constantine on an early trip to hell - he was pulled out of his rumination by commotion outside the main door. Automatically on alert, the demonologist steeled himself - gathering his magic to protect both himself and Sara.

"What if he doesn't like burgers?" A distinctly feminine voice echoed up the stairwell.

"What do you mean? Everyone loves hamburgers," a deeper voice replied.

"Well, he's British isn't he?"

"Thea, I'm pretty sure they eat hamburgers in the UK. Besides, I think he's lived here for a while."

"But you don't know for sure, do you?" the voice, Thea apparently, shot back.

The second voice just sighed. "It will be fine Thea."

"Whatever. Just don't blame me if he doesn't like this grease bomb."

Constantine quickly relaxed his tensed position and carefully released the magical energy he had built up. After all, accidentally cursing the group would hardly help the tension between them, he snorted to himself.

Their footfalls and bickering grew louder, indicating they were nearing the top of the stairwell. Looking around quickly, Constantine's eyes caught sight of the big and, most importantly, comfortable office chair in front of a large computer screen. Moving swiftly, he slouched into a nonchalant position. After a moment of consideration, he also kicked his feet on the desk, looking for all the world as if he owned it.

Once again feeling Sara's eyes upon him, Constantine ignored the woman. It wasn't his fault that she couldn't appreciate the importance of a person's image.

Then in a sudden rush, the whole team was there. Oliver and John entered first, both carrying huge bags of take-out labelled Big Belly. Constantine's stomach rolled uneasily, already guessing at the contents of the bags. Following them, Laurel and Thea both entered together. Thea was still murmuring something to Oliver - they were too far away for Constantine to catch their conversation - while Laurel struggled to contain her giggles. Whatever they were discussing, it must've been pretty amusing because Constantine had yet to see the high-strung brunette smile, much less giggle. Finally, pulling up the rear, Felicity entered last, the smile on her face quickly dissipating when she spotted Constantine sprawled across her chair.

"We bring gifts of food," Oliver proclaimed, a large grin threatening to split his face.

"Oh thank God, I'm starved," Sara responded, rising slowly from the couch with a hesitant smile on her face.

"Sara, you're awake!" Laurel shrieked, racing to embrace her sister as the rest of the room's occupants winced at the sharp pitch.

Sara met her halfway, arms opened wide as Laurel caught her in a bone-crushing hug. Laughing to herself, Laurel pulled back slightly to look at Sara in amazement.

"I just can't believe you're back," she whispered, placing a gentle kiss on Sara's brow.

"I know," the younger replied. "And I promise, this time I'm not going anywhere."

The sisters continued to embrace until a low grumble interrupted the moment. Pulling away from her sister, Sara blushed slightly.

"Well, except maybe to the dinner table," she added demurely. Another low growl emitted from her stomach and Laurel laughed.

"Well, it's a good thing we brought back enough food to feed an army!" Laurel beamed, grabbing Sara's hand and dragging her to where the others were unpacking the food.

As the others worked on clearly off an eating area, Thea timidly approached Constantine, who merely watched her coming with raised eyebrows.

"We have enough for everybody if you want to join us," she offered simply, looking at him prettily through her eyelashes.

Recognizing the truce for what it was, Constantine smiled slightly to her. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind some grub."

Thea's mouth twitched upwards and she gestured slightly with her head, indicating that he should come with her.

Rolling his eyes slightly because honestly, what was this, a fucking drama show? Constantine made a show of sauntering over to the others and grabbing a foil wrapped burger for himself. Oliver and the others barely acknowledged his arrival, digging into the food themselves. Although naturally, Felicity did make a point of sending a fierce glare his way, clearly not pleased with his attitude. In response, Constantine found himself fighting an overwhelming urge to stick his tongue out at the uptight blonde.

Gingerly unwrapping his food, he frowned slightly at the sight before him. While he had certainly had his fair share of crummy fast food, Thea wasn't joking when she said it was a grease bomb - Constantine could feel his arteries clogging just looking at it.

Still, unwilling to give Felicity the satisfaction of seeing his discomfort, he quickly dug in too. While visually unappealing, he had to admit the burger tasted pretty damn good. Although, I'd eat just about anything at this point, he reflected. Meanwhile, a casual conversation had taken residence around him as the various team members chatted with one another.

Yet, Constantine noticed that Felicity still hadn't taken her sharp eyes off him and was isolating herself from the conversation. Seeing how ignoring people was his speciality, he merely reached for a second burger and tried to get used to the people around him. After all, they needed to work as a team if they ever wanted a chance of defeating Dark and he knew he could work a little harder at it. At least, that was the plan until a biting voice directed a question towards him.

"So, John - if it's ok to call you that," Felicity started, drawing the eyes of the whole table.

Constantine didn't respond, blinking at her as he waited for her to continue.

Nonplussed by his lack of reaction, Felicity continued. "I was wondering if you would tell us a little bit about yourself. After all, team members need to know one another, don't they?"

As the stare down between the two continued, all table conversation stopped and an awkward silence fell over the room. In the resulting quiet, the sisters quietly fiddled with their food and Thea hung her head slightly. Diggle paused as well, carefully wiping his mouth on a napkin and leaning back to observe what was about to happen. Only Oliver glowered at Felicity, making his feelings regarding the current situation clear in his dark gaze.

However, unshaken by Oliver's steely look or Constantine's continued silence, Felicity continued her questioning. "I looked you up on the internet last night and just so you know, we have very good software here. And I must say, it was some very interesting reading. Sure, there wasn't much as I'm sure you know how to clean your record but as I said, I'm really good."

Constantine just shrugged, disinterest practically pouring out of his relaxed posture. "Yeah? Care to share with the class luv? I'm sure everyone would love to know."

"Why don't you tell us about Newcastle?"

Unable to help himself, Constantine felt is body stiffen. "What about it," he sniffed.

Felicity glared at his off-handed attitude, annoyed he wouldn't take her more seriously. "A little girl died there and I know you had something to do with it." she shot back, not holding back any punches for the obnoxious Brit.

Feeling Oliver's heavy gaze upon her, Felicity mentally ground her teeth at his disapproval. It wasn't so much that she didn't trust Constantine and she really didn't mean to be such a bitch, any other time she actually might have enjoyed his company. Yet, she simply couldn't shake off the feeling that he was hiding something from them all - something big. And if no one else is going to step up and figure out what he's hiding, I guess it has to be me, she decided. Whether Oliver likes it or not.

The tension in the room was so strong you could practically feel it rippling between the two figures.

"Newcastle has nothing to do with you," Constantine finally replied.

"How can it have nothing to do with us? You come here and ask us to trust you, when you won't even talk to us about who you are," Felicity cried out.

"What do you want to hear then?"

"I want to know what happened!"

"Yeah well it's none of your bloody business! Newcastle was the biggest mistake of my life but that's my business, not yours!" Constantine shot to his feet and around him, the room started to darken. Furious with rage, he clenched his fists, unaware of the wary looks being sent his way or the lights flickering ominously above him.

"John, please," Oliver quickly intervened, shooting anxious looks between the demonologist and Felicity. "It's fine. You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to. We all have our secrets." After that last statement, he look sternly at each individual team member, until they understood exactly what he wasn't saying. We all have our mistakes and we all have our own dark pasts, his underlying message reminded. No one is perfect and we need him.

Slowly sitting back down, Constantine rubbed a head across his face, suddenly feeling exhaustion creeping around him again. Knowing this was another pivotal moment with the group and firmly aware that they needed to be united before they faced Dark, Constantine sighed.

"No, she's right."

The team looked at him in surprise.

Gesturing for Oliver to sit back down, Constantine took a breath. "Her name was Astra. Her father was a friend of mine and she had gotten herself into trouble - the kind of trouble I specialize in."

He left the statement hanging, letting the team's imagination fill in the gaps.

"I was young and inexperienced, but I thought I could do this. I thought I could save her." He trailed off quietly, the pain of the memories washing over him. "All it took was one bad decision - my bad decision - and it was all over. I couldn't save her. She was gone." He whispered the last words, reliving those last moments, the terrified screams as Astra was dragged into hell echoing in his mind. An eternity of torment and pain, one no innocent child deserved.

"It should've been me," he quietly pronounced. "It was my fault but she paid the price. I later had myself admitted to Ravenscar, to attone for my actions," he concluded quietly. With a soft sigh, Constantine rose to his feet and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. With hardly a glance at the team, he turned around and expertly lit the cigarette, briskly heading towards to door leading outside. After the door shut with an audible click, the team turned to look at Felicity.

Always the leader, Oliver was first to break the silence. "Felicity, what in the world were you thinking?"

"Yeah, I know. That was decidedly not good," the blonde responded absentmindedly, still staring at the door.

"Don't you understand that we need his help? Of course he has a past, we all do. Why would you…"

Whatever Oliver was saying, Felicity would never know. The words started to blend together as Oliver's voice became nothing more than a drone in the background. with a sudden moment of clarity, Felicity shot to her feet, knowing what she needed to do and startling Oliver into silence.

With a quick look over her shoulder and a muttered, "be back soon," Felicity briskly crossed the room and slipped out the same door Constantine had disappeared behind just moments before.

Following the smell of cigarette smoke, Felicity opened the door to the back alleyway. Catching sight of a shadowed figure leaning against the brick wall, Felicity sighed to herself.

"Hey," she called out, uncertain what else to say.

The trenchcoated man merely scoffed to himself, taking a long drag of his cigarette. "Yeah, anything else you want to know?" he asked sarcastically, shooting her a dark look.

"Look, I'm… well, I'm sorry," she said, shivering as the biting wind picked up around her.

Constantine didn't seemed to notice the cold at all as he turned away from her, slowly pacing in a small circle.

"What I said in there, I didn't mean it. Or well, I did but I shouldn't have said it like that. I shouldn't have accused you of things I don't understand myself and I was wrong," she rambled, trying to find the right words.

"Oliver's right, we need your help. And how can I expect you to trust me enough to share your secrets when I can't even have a simple meal with you. I mean, you're infuriating and rude and sarcastic, but that doesn't make you a bad person or untrustworthy."

Constantine's lips twitched at that and Felicity trudged on, feeling sick as she tried to fix the damage she had caused.

"It's just, all of this scares me. And after seeing what Dark can do with magic and just how evil he is, I assumed everyone with magic had to be bad. Or that magic made them evil and they shouldn't be trusted. And that was wrong, I understand that now. There's no excuse for my actions but I hope you understand where I'm coming from," she trailed off, finally out of things to say.

As the silence between them grew, Felicity began to fidget uncomfortably. Not only was it freezing cold outside but she also couldn't get a read on what Constantine was thinking. The shadows hid the man's face completely, leaving her without a clue of what to do next.

Finally, his voice cut through the darkness. "I understand you're uneasy towards magic," he began, "but know that magic has always been part of your life, whether you knew it or not."

Felicity tilted her head in confusion. "Look, I can accept that magic is a real thing, I have seen the proof now," she blurted out. "But it's never been part of my life. I would know if people were using magic around me."

Constantine merely shook his head. "You don't see it because you don't know what magic is."

Felicity bit back a retort at the arrogant statement, reminding herself that she had inadvertently asked for this and that he was right - after all, she didn't know anything about magic.

"Thing is, magic isn't just a tool that a few people can wield," the magician explained. "It's more like an energy force and it acts similar to a river. It flows all around us, carving through time and space itself. And some people," Constantine paused, murmuring a few words softly under his breath, "can shape this energy to perform certain tasks."

Opening his hand, Felicity was amazed to see a small flame flickering on Constantine's palm, softening the sharp features of his face. Unaware of her feet moving beneath her, Felicity crept closer to the flame, watching in wonder as it danced across his hand.

"It's no more inherently good or evil than any other tool."

To Felicity's delight, the flame twisted itself into the familiar form of Oliver's trademark weapon.

"And just as Oliver could use his bow to save or hurt people, magic also depends on the user," he continued gently, his words weaving a story before her very eyes.

As she watched, a small spark fell off the bow, glowing steadily brighter until Felicity was forced to avert her gaze. Yet, just a moment later, the dazzling brilliance faded away and she could open her eyes again. Still resting on Constantine's hand, the flame had split and as Felicity peered into the blaze, she realized she could make out the distinctive form of a man now holding the bow.

Clasping her hands in awe, she watched as the fiery figure emerged from the flames and reached into his quiver, pulling out a singular arrow. Nocking the string carefully, the image drew his arm back and let the arrow fly. After it's release, the flaming man dissipated as quickly as it had appeared, the flames folding into one another until nothing remained.

Now the sole source of light in the alley, the flaming arrow continued its arc. When it struck the far away wall, thousands of sparks shot out and the ground suddenly exploded into flames. All around her, the flames engulfed Felicity, running up the alley walls until it was transformed into a fiery tunnel. Yet, not a single flame burned her as they licked the brick walls, dancing madly in the gusting wind. Nor did the heat became unbearable, as her logical mind told her it should.

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was probably only a few seconds, a particularly strong gale swirled down the alley, throwing thousands of sparks into the wind and blowing the flames out like so many candles.

Yet, in the infernos wake stood a garden of majesty she couldn't even imagine in her dreams.

Fiery vines and tendrils snaked their way up the brick walls of the alley, forming impossibly intricate and delicate designs. Along the vines, fierce flowers blossomed, glowing white-hot in their passion.

In that moment, Felicity turned to Constantine, trying desperately to understand what was going on around her. He only spread his arms out wide, showcasing everything around him.

"Magic doesn't have to destroy. It doesn't have to be twisted or evil; it can beauty and light," he concluded simply.

As she admired the flaring grandeur all around her, Felicity realized she had no choice but to accept what Constantine explained. For how could something evil create something so majestic and awe-inspiring? Smiling gently at him, she nodded her head in understanding.

Then, with nothing more than a snap of his fingers, Constantine expertly extinguished the flames.

Without the brilliant fires, the alleyway suddenly seemed impossibly dark and, as another breeze tickled her bare arms, Felicity was reminded of the biting cold.

Noticing her discomfort, Constantine gestured towards the door, hinting that they should go back inside. And after taking one last look at the half-finished cigarette in his hands, he let it drop to the pavement and snuffed it out with his shoe. After all, he could afford to play nice this one time.

Felicity gave a soft snort at the action and held the door open. Together they walked back into the lair - a new friendship and understanding kindled between them.

Yay, finally some magic - I hope it transcribed to the paper well because I have no idea what I'm doing. Also, I know Felicity seems a bit OC but I always imagined her as protective over the group and stubborn to a fault. So after their experience with Dark, I thought she might be particularly hard to persuade.

Like always, drop a review and let me know what you think. As you can see, I meant it when I said reviews keep me writing.

Cheers!