"I think I found something," Constantine muttered as he studied the large, dusty book in his lap. He and Mary had just gone through Beeman's old stuff, researching for anything mentioning Raphael.

"Oh?" Mary asked peering over his shoulder. She leaned against him, her soft breasts against his back. Constantine closed his eyes. This girl wasn't even doing anything and it still turned him on.

"What did you find?" Mary continued, apparently not having noticed Constantine's…reaction. He opened his eyes, reminding himself to stay on task.

"Here," he said, pointing to a particular passage. "It says that Raphael will put forth the End of Days, uh, help Beelzebub, plunge the earth into hell, et cetera, blah, blah, blah. Ah, here's something. Raphael will need a…" Constantine chuckled, "a virgin." He looked at Mary expectantly.

"What?" she asked leaning back on her heels.

"You never answered my question," he reminded with a slight smile.

"What question?" Mary asked suspiciously.

"Are you a virgin?"

Mary looked down at her lap, crossing her arms against her chest. She shook her head. "No, I'm not," she admitted. She looked at him. "I was raped all through my childhood."

Constantine's smile vanished instantly. "Jesus, Mary, I'm sorry, I had no idea."

Mary held up a hand and smiled gently. "It's ok, John, no big deal. I've way over it." She leaned back against him. "What else does it say?"

God, I'm such a prick.

"Um, let me see," he said, scanning the page. "Raphael will also need…" Constantine stopped short, rereading the sentence. He dropped the book.

"God damn it," he said harshly, pushing himself up. Mary copied him.

"What's wrong?" she asked worryingly.

"He needs the Spear of Destiny."

(0)

"Yeah, well get her on the phone, got it?" Constantine practically yelled into the phone. "No, don't put me of fucking hold. Arg!" He slammed the phone on the receiver.

"DAMN IT!" he yelled, banging his fist on the table. He kicked the chair, making it fall to the floor with a cloud clank. Mary watched calmly.

"John," she said softly. "What is going on?"

Constantine began pacing. "The Spear of Destiny, Angela was supposed to hide it, but she didn't, or she wasn't fucking smart enough to think of a good place." He let out an aggravated grunt. "Raphael already has it. I can feel it."

Mary nodded. "Ok, well, then let's go find Angela. You said she was a police officer, right?"

Constantine was going to answer, but the phone rang, beating him to it. "Hello?" he barked. "Angela, about God damn time. Where did you put the spear? I know what I told you, damn it, but now someone else has it! Raphael. An angel. Yes. Fine, hurry." He slammed the phone back down. He turned to face one of the windows, leaning his arms against its frame. He really, really wanted a cigarette.

He was so frustrated that he didn't even notice Mary coming up behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her forehead between his shoulder blades. Constantine relaxed, somewhat, and held her hands against him.

"Angela will be here soon," he said, breaking the silence. He turned to face her. "She'll help us."

Mary smiled at him, trying to make him feel better. "Good," she said. "Is she nice?"

Constantine smiled. "Yeah, she's alright. She is the one who broke my bathtub, though."

Realization dawned on her. "Oh, that's the one who helped you out with the Gabriel thing?" Constantine nodded. Mary narrowed her eyes.

"Is there something between you two?" she asked suspiciously.

"No," Constantine answered truthfully. "We used to call each other, trying to make it work, but it never did."

"So I'm not going to have to share you or anything then, right?"

Constantine raised his eyebrows. She doesn't want to share me?

"No," he said, staring into her deep, green eyes. "No, you won't." He framed Mary's face with his large hands, feeling her rest hers on his waist.

"You're beautiful," he said truthfully. Mary blushed.

"John," she said awkwardly, wishing she didn't have to gaze up at his brown eyes probing into her own. "No I'm not—"

"Yeah, you are," Constantine breathed. "That's the beauty of it; you don't even realize how pretty you are."

How can he think that about me? He's the beautiful one, not me. Her eyes watered. I think I love him.

"John…" Mary whispered, "If you say any more I won't be held responsible for my actions."

He smiled, releasing a small laugh with his breathing. "Trust me; I don't have a problem with that."

Mary sniffed, her eyes glowing, gazing up at him with all the love in her heart. Constantine felt his insides melt. He leaned down slowly, forgetting about Raphael and the Spear of Destiny, his thoughts only toward the lovely creature before him. Their lips met, touching softly, gently.

Mary sighed, sliding her hands from Constantine's waist to his shoulders. She felt his tongue venture out, sweetly probing her sealed lips—a silent plea to gain access to her mouth. At the first touch of their tongues, Mary's knees felt weak, causing her to lean more fully against Constantine, who, in turn, did not seem to mind at all. He simply tightened his hold on her, pulling her flush against his body.

The kiss quickly turned from a gentle declaration of love and adoration to a harsh, lustful meeting of lips, tongues, and teeth. Mary gasped and clasped her arms around Constantine's neck, rising on her tiptoes to meet his enthusiasm. She ran her fingers through his dark hair, massaging his scalp with her fingertips. Constantine moaned.

With no real thought in his head, Constantine picked Mary up and sat her on the edge of the table, standing between her parted legs. He gripped her waist, loving the feel of her. Her scent surrounded him to the point where he felt he was drowning. He loved the little sounds she kept making, the moans and the sighs. He loved her fingers in his hair.

I love you, he thought.

Unfortunately, a knock on the door prevented Constantine from going any further. His eyes snapped open, finding Mary's green eyes staring back at him. She let her hands drop from his hair to his shoulders as his hands slipped from her waist to her thighs. They sat there, lips still pressed together, simply staring.

"John!" cried a voice on the other side of the door. "John! Open the door!" Constantine sighed, suddenly remembering Angela and everything else. He pulled away from Mary.

"Sorry," he said, his voice hoarse. "I kind of…forgot myself."

Mary nodded, absently touching her lips. Hair even more disheveled than usual, eyes hazy, lips swollen, plus the way she was seated at the table, Constantine drank in her appearance with as much enthusiasm as a parched man staring at a tall glass of water.

"Me, too," Mary said, her voice hoarse as well. Constantine wanted nothing more than to grab her, throw her over his shoulder, and take her to his bed, where he would spend the rest of his life worshipping her body with his own. But, alas, there was work to do, a world to save, and an angel to defeat. Also, Angela was at the front door.

"About time," Angela muttered as soon as Constantine opened the door. She pushed past him, pausing when she saw Mary, who had now moved to the more respectable chair. Constantine brushed past her, walking to a cabinet. He pulled out a new package of gum.

"Angela, Mary," he introduced, popping a piece of gum into his mouth. "Mary, Angela."

Mary smiled. "Hi," she greeted in a cheery tone. Angela raised an eyebrow.

"Hi," she said, glancing suspiciously at Constantine. "John?"

"The Spear," he said, distracting Angela's attention from Mary. "Where did you put it?"

Angela wrapped her arms around herself in a protective manner. "Somewhere safe," she answered. "I don't believe this Raphael guy has it. It's impossible."

"Where did you put it, Angela?" Constantine repeated.

Angela put her hands on her hips. "Alright, if you must know, the Vatican City."

"The Vatican City? Why the hell did you put it there?"

"I don't know, maybe because it's safe there?"

Constantine gritted his teeth in aggravation. "Well, obviously, it wasn't so safe there if Raphael already has it, is it?"

Angela's eyes narrowed dangerously. "It is safe there, John, and don't you—" The sound of something hard falling interrupted her. Both Angela and Constantine turned towards Mary, and both were shocked at what they saw.

Mary had fallen out of her chair, sprawled out on the cold floor. Her eyes had rolled back into her head and she was shaking violently, harsh gargling noising coming from her throat.

"SHIT!" Constantine yelled jumping over the table to her side. He straddled her waist and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly.

"Mary," he commanded. "Mary, MARY!" Mary shut her eyes tightly, opening them a second later, revealing her dilated pupils. Her shaking having stopped, she began to hyperventilate, her eyes looking wildly around, desperate to focus on something.

"She's having a panic attack," Angela gasped, leaning next to Constantine.

"Mary," Constantine repeated. "Mary, look at me." He took her chin between his thumb and index finger, gently forcing her to look at him. "That's right, look at me."

Mary blinked, her breathing slowly becoming controlled again. "John," she muttered brokenly. She sobbed, and buried her face in his chest.

Constantine, a little off balance, hugged her against him fiercely. "It's ok," he whispered, "I'm here." He didn't care that Angela was watching or what she might have been thinking, all that mattered was Mary.

He closed his eyes. "Don't ever scare me like that again," he said. He pulled away from her gently. He wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "Now, what happened?"

Mary gulped. "It was like the dream I had," she admitted. "Everything was the same, except…except, this time, I think I-I actually saw the Spear." She shuddered. "It was in his hand, John, and…and he looked straight at me…"

Constantine's stomach clenched. "And…" he prompted.

"And he smiled," Mary continued, "and he said that I was his." She looked at him, not bothering to shield her fear and uncertainty. This was John, and even though she had only met him the day before, she already felt she had known him all her life. She trusted him.

I think I love him, too.

"He looked right at me and said, 'Mine.'"

Constantine leaned back. "God Damn it."