Thank you, Roony and digitalgrey, for reviewing my story! Roony, I think I can safely assure you that Mary is not a Mary-sue. Thank you for your input about the curse words as well. I understand what you mean, but I just cannot bring myself to use them. Strange, I know, but I am an oddling. Enjoy my next chapter!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

John stood outside of a dilapidated building, no more than a mile away from the Brooklyn Bridge. A rather worn sign, hanging by one screw, proclaimed the name of the establishment: 'Saving Grace: Sanctuary'. John frowned thoughtfully, puffing on his cigarette. On a hunch, he switched to True Sight and sure enough. Both the sign and the doors had been clearly marked with the angelic and demonic symbols for Sanctuary. So that was how the half-breeds found this place.

He was about to walk inside when a 'No Smoking' sticker caught his eye. John studied it balefully for a moment before dropping his cigarette on the ground and grinding it out with the toe of his shoe. Once inside, he employed his True Sight again and nearly fell over from the sheer numbers of half-breeds in the room. Out of the twenty or so people, at least fifteen were half-breeds(mostly demonic). "What the hell?" He muttered, placing a hand on his gun, forgetting that he wasn't supposed to be slaying these creatures.

"Excuse me!" A sharp, masculine voice interrupted. "This is a Sanctuary. That means no weapons." The big black man held out his massive hand to John, "Hand it over."

"Not a chance, a-hole!" John replied defensively, gripping it even tighter.

Suddenly, the man's eyes widened with recognition, "Hey...don't I know you from somewhere?" A quick check in True Sight told John all he needed to know. The man was a demonic half-breed. "Yeah, that's right. You're Constantine. You murdered my brother!"

Oh crap Thought John. Not even here five minutes and I've already found an enemy. Wonder if I can kill him before someone else notices...

"Barney..." The black man looked over John's shoulder and his eyes widened. John smirked Barney, huh? Way to strike fear into the hearts of your foes. A small woman with long, braided hair stepped in between the pair. "What did I tell you?"

"No fighting in the Sanctuary." He mumbled, shooting John an evil glance, knowing what he was thinking.

That's odd John frowned Why would a half-breed obey a human? The half-breed has magic and brute strength. Humans, at best, have a little magic and a big gun.

"That's right," The woman agreed, "Now if you're going to behave, I think Fred needs help in the kitchen." After shooting John one final evil look that promised revenge later, Barney hurried out of the room. The woman sighed and finally turned to face John. Almost immediately, her eyes found his gun, "I would ask that you give up your weapons"

"Not a chance in hell."

"–But I'm fairly certain that you won't." Mary finished, giving him a reproving glance. John snorted softly. "I am Mary Alvir, the owner and manager of Sanctuary." She held out a hand to shake one of his.

John shook it cautiously, again using True Sight to verify that she was, indeed, human. "I'm John Constantine. Gabriel sent me...said that God needed me to find you. Why?"

Mary shrugged, brown hair glistening dully in the insufficient lighting. John noted from the handshake that her hands were calloused and her wrist had been broken at least once. "The only reason God sends people here," She said carefully, "Is if they need me. I've heard about you, John Constantine."

"What else is new?" He muttered sardonically. Mary sighed quietly, dark green eyes showing John's reflection. Constantine was used to that sort of response. If people didn't get angry at his smart-mouth attitude, they sighed like he was just a spoiled child. He hated that. "So what the hell is this place?"

"A place in which hell is not welcome." Mary replied pointedly, "In both senses of the word. As I'm sure Gabriel told you, this is a safe zone. A place where everyone can come when they need rest or peace."

John snorted again. Peace? What a laughable concept. "I think you're living in a dreamworld, Alvir."

Mary frowned and seemed hurt. Then, slowly, she sighed again (He wasn't a willful child, d-mmit!). She turned to survey the room and for a moment, John thought she might've walked away. He wouldn't have minded. Then, much to his annoyance, she turned back around and pulled up her sleeves, presenting her wrists for his inspection. "How many scars do you see here, John?" She asked levelly, green eyes burning a hole into his forehead.

John obediently leaned forward to count them. He expected them to either originate from demons, or possibly even razor blades. He would recognize both without any trouble. To his surprise, he didn't see any. Was this some kind of sick joke? "I don't see any." He replied, a hint of a challenge seeping into his tone.

"Exactly." Mary's smile was unreadable. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Not bothering to explain herself, she pulled her sleeves down again and headed for the same door Barney had left through. Just as she was about to step over the threshold, she glanced back at the demon hunter, "Are you going to follow me, John? I would think you would want to know why this isn't a dreamworld."

John would've liked nothing better than to have detonated a holy water bomb in the room so he could blast the half-demons to dust, but he had a mission. As usual, he couldn't ignore God's directive...so he followed her.