Things went smoothly for around two days. Chas followed instructions, lying low and dealing with the snickers and curses from everyone one the street who'd heard about what happened. John was almost ready to believe the whole thing had been a fluke.

Until he got a call from the police two hours after Chas was supposed to pick him up, telling John that he needed to come bail Mr. Kramer out of jail.

John was furious, but he knew he couldn't just leave the kid in prison to get raped or something. He took a cab down to the prison and told the driver to stay put, and he went inside and up to the front desk.

"I'm here to bail out Chas Kramer," he said darkly. He paid the outrageous fee, and then followed the clerk back to the holding cell.

Chas was sitting there, leaning forward on his knees, his head down. There was a quickly-forming bruise on his face. He looked up at the sound of a key getting shoved into the lock, and as soon as he saw John he smiled nervously.

"Hey, uh…I'm sorry about this, I-"

"Shut up," John snapped dangerously, and Chas immediately stopped talking and looked down at the ground.

There were times when Chas could be intelligent. This was one of those times- he remained completely silent for the entire ride home, his head down, his hands clasped in his lap. Once back to the apartment, he followed John up the stairs without a word, and then when they got inside John pulled a chair out and away from the table and pointed to it.

"Sit."

Chas sat. John paced.

"You know, John, I wasn't-"

"Shut. Up."

Silence once again. John paced for close to five minutes before finally stopping and beginning to speak.

"You know, Chas, sometimes I wonder how you've managed to live this long."

"But I-"

"Don't fuckin' talk till I tell you to or I'll rip your balls off."

Chas's eyes widened, and he shut up, watching John nervously.

"Alright, kid," John started, crossing his arms. "You're going to answer my questions exactly, no embellishments, no explanation. Just…the straight-up truth."

Chas nodded.

"Where did you go today?"

"Midnite's."

"To do what?"

"To find a relic I heard him mention. I-"

John cut him off from further explanation by raising his hand. "So…let me get this straight. You went to Midnite's in broad daylight to steal a relic."

"Well, yes, but-"

Chas was abruptly cut off by John hitting him on the side of his head, hard. He yelped and cowered, prepared for another hit, but none came.

"You're a stupid fuckin' little shit, you know that? Did you even find the relic?"

"No…"

"Do you have any proof at all for this insane theory of yours?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then it's settled."

Before Chas could argue, there was a knock at the door. John opened it up and Midnite was standing there, smoking a very expensive cigar.

"Constantine."

"Midnite. I wasn't aware you made a habit of house calls."

"Is your apprentice here?"

John quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah. I just bailed him out," he said, his voice tense with anger at those last three words. Chas winced.

"May I come in?"

John shrugged and stepped aside, opening the door wider. Chas scooted his chair back away from the door as Midnite stepped inside and put out his cigar in the nearest ashtray.

"John…I want you to use a Byzantium Talisman on me."

Both of John's eyebrows raised. "Why?"

Midnite stepped around Chas, circling him like a vulture. "All of this is about your apprentice believing I am possessed. A talisman of that kind would, as you know, cause irreparable damage to any demon spirit within me," he said, and then he squatted down in front of Chas. "Would that appease your insatiable curiosity enough to stop harassing my clients?"

Chas lifted his chin. "A Caligula Medallion. Then I'll believe you."

John was about to hit Chas over the head again for being so blatantly disrespectful, but didn't bother when he realized Midnite was laughing.

"As you wish. John?"

John muttered, but then retreated to his bedroom and took a few boards out of the wall to reveal a safe. He opened it and dug around, pulling out a small red box. He brought that back to the table, grabbed a bottle of holy water, and poured some into a bowl.

Midnite and Chas were both silent as John took out the old, beat-up medallion and dipped it into the holy water. Chas took a few steps back, and John put the medallion around Midnite's neck.

Moments passed. Nothing.

John could literally see it the moment it hit Chas, when the boy realized that nothing was going to happen. He lowered his head and chewed lightly on his lower lip as Midnite turned around to face him.

"Now that I've wasted my valuable time with this shenanigan, do you have anything to say to me?"

Chas didn't look up. "I'm sorry, sir," he muttered miserably. Midnite snorted, taking off the medallion and handing it back to John.

"I have other, more important matters to attend to. You might want to keep any taser guns away from that boy and have him write a get well card to my bouncer."

John clenched his jaw and nodded, opening the door for Midnite, and the man strode out as confidently as he'd come in. John set to work putting away the medallion and the holy water, and by the time he'd finished, Chas still hadn't moved from that chair in the kitchen.

The boy looked absolutely crushed. John felt a pang of pity for him; after all, he'd just been trying to help, trying to figure out his weird delusions. And maybe John would've done some of that wild stuff when he was Chas's age.

That doesn't change the fact that he was wrong. Dead wrong. And now every demon and angel in town knows it.

"C'mon, kid," John said, nudging Chas's shoulder. "Get some sleep. Early meetings tomorrow, don't want you falling asleep at the wheel."

Chas nodded, and didn't say a word as he trudged off to the couch. John sighed and ran a hand through his hair, watching his apprentice leave the room.

That boy is going to be the death of you.