I wake up with Giles' phone shrilling in my ears. Ethan curses and rolls over, burying his face the sofa cushions, and covering his ears. I sit up and stretch, staring stupidly at the phone, wondering if anyone's going to answer it. Giles is nowhere to be seen, and Ethan doesn't look like he's planning on moving any time soon. I swear loudly, and force myself up.

'Wha' d'you want? 's too early in the bloody morning!' I growl sleepily into the phone.

'Is that you Constantine?' a clipped, English voice says with forced politeness. 'Pleasant as always, I see.'

Oh I am such a fucking idiot. I've played right into their hands. What's the point in Giles denying I'm here if I answer the friggin telephone?

Because it's him, of course. The Council guy… what's his bloody name? Wilfred, or Quentin, or Albert, or something else equally ridiculously old-fashionedly British. Well, who else would be calling at six o'clock in the morning? Bastard!

'What do you want?' I snarl.

'Well, I was calling to ask Giles if he had any idea of your whereabouts. But that seems to have become fairly redundant,' he says. That's right, rub it in, I think resentfully.

'So what do you want from me?' I say bitterly.

'I'm not at liberty to discuss that at the moment…'

'Oh for fuck's sake!' I cut in angrily.

'No need to swear,' he says pleasantly. I visualise the smug grin and grit my teeth. 'Can I speak with Giles?'

'He's still in bed! It's six o'clock in the morning!'

'No, I'm awake, John,' Giles calls sleepily. 'Just give me a moment.'

I must have woken him. I hadn't realised I was yelling. Giles stumbles sleepily over to me and takes the phone out of my hand. I sit down on the arm of the sofa, and try to make sense of the conversation.

'For gods sake, Quentin, do you realise it's six o'clock in the morning? I'm sure it's not that urgent.' A pause. Giles listens intently, frowning slightly. 'Now why would I lie to you? Of course he wasn't. Yesterday. I said yesterday. Yes, and Ethan too. How the hell did you know that? Of course it matters!' His frown deepens. 'No I will not just shut up for a moment and listen to you. You have no right to… Quentin, I won't just… What do you mean 'a deal'?'

He goes silent, and the person at the other end talks urgently. I lean in close, but I can't make out a word he's saying, and Giles waves me away impatiently.

'Let me listen,' he mouths silently. I nod.

By now, Ethan is sitting up, staring at us both with a strange expression on his face. He catches me watching him, and his face goes carefully blank.

'With who?' Giles says, his eyes widening in a mixture of shock and fear. 'What's that got to do with Constantine? You must be joking! Of course I won't… No. I said no!'

He falls silent again, and listens intently for a moment, before putting the phone down without another word. He's stopped looking angry, now he's lost in thought, and he looks shell-shocked, and… scared. Whatever it was Quentin just told him, I don't think he wanted to hear it.

'Well. I always knew you were popular, John. But I never realised you were quite that popular,' he says shakily.

'Popular? Giles, I don't understand! What do they want?'

'Well unless I've misunderstood…' he takes off his glasses and cleans them distractedly 'They want to put a stop to evil. All evil. For ever and ever, amen,' he says.

Bloody hell! It's not the answer I was expecting. I want to laugh, but Giles looks deadly serious. In fact, he looks terrified.

And I still don't understand what this has got to do with me.

'They think- and please understand that I think they're insane,' Giles continues, 'They think that they can make a deal with the rulers of hell, and put an end to evil. They think that if they can persuade them to shut the gateways between our dimension and theirs, then no more evil will be able to come into the world.'

'And out of hatred and darkness will come peace and harmony and fluffy little bunny rabbits,' Ethan interrupts. 'All right, all right, we get the idea. Why are they so desperate to get their hands on Constantine?'

Giles is looking at me strangely.

'If you're going to try and bargain with the devil, you have to be prepared to give it something it wants. Constantine, you appear to be hell's most wanted.'

I groan and bury my face in my hands. I was right all along… well, almost right. This is nothing to do with Ripper's college days at all. It is because of what I did to The Three. They want my guts after all.

Briefly, I wonder what all this has to do with Ethan. But I suppose the council has their methods. Bastards.

'They want me to hand you over, John,' Giles says quietly. 'They know you're here, and they've given me twenty-four hours to hand you over. If I haven't picked up the phone when the twenty-four hours are up, they'll come and get you by force.'

'Then I should leave…'

'You can't,' Ethan reminds me calmly, smugly even. 'Remember, the only reason those invisible whatsits are leaving you alone is because they've got you exactly where they want you. You take one step outside that door…' he shrugs, an obnoxious grin spreading across his face. 'Well I wouldn't fancy your chances,' he finishes cheerfully.

I shut my eyes.

Ethan's right.

I'm in way over my head this time. I've said that before, haven't I? You're probably getting sick of hearing it. But I don't care.

Because it's true…

I'm dead.

Between the council and The Three I don't have a hope in hell…

'You're not going to hand me over?' I ask Giles desperately.

'Don't be such an idiot, Constantine!' he says forcefully. 'I wouldn't let the Council get their hands on my worst enemy, let alone you...'

I'm pathetically relieved. And then the guilt kicks in. I'm going to let him do it. I'm going to let him risk himself for me… again.

Because I'm afraid. Because I have no one else to turn to.

I force a grin.

'Are you seriously telling me that if it was Ethan they were after, you wouldn't be handing him over like a shot?' I retort. When he going gets tough, the tough crack bad jokes.

Giles actually laughs.

'Well, maybe if it was Ethan…' he says, and then frowns. 'Hang on a second. Where is Ethan?'

'I'm here!' Ethan yells from the kitchen. 'There's no need to be so bloody suspicious. And I heard that, Constantine. It wasn't funny.'

I have to bite my lip from laughing. Then I look up, and Giles is doing the same thing. It's too much. We snigger like children. Ethan scowls furiously.

'Fuck you, Constantine! You know something? I think the world would be a better place without you in it!'

At that moment the doorbell rings.

I don't bother jumping out of my skin. The Council have said we've got twenty-four hours before they do anything drastic. So there's no point being scared of the doorbell. In fact, it's a welcome relief.

It's the Slayer and her friends. The two from before, and a newcomer, a guy with bleached blond hair and a floor-length leather coat. He's hiding under a blanket… it takes me a moment to realise that he must be a vampire, and a moment longer to register that it's an odd thing that the Slayer's not… well, slaying him.

'Are you Constantine, mate?' he says as soon as he's inside out of the sunlight. Giles glares at the Slayer slightly, but the vampire ignores them both.

'Yeah. Who are you?'

'I've got a bone to pick with you!'

Why does everyone always have it in for me, I wonder?

'You'll have to wait your turn. There're bigger demons than you out to get a piece of me,' I snap. He ignores me.

'Did you dust a vamp called Darius?' he asks angrily.

'Not that I remember. What's it to you?'

'He owed me forty quid!'

'Spike!' the slayer growls. 'Now is not the time!'

'Buffy, why did you bring him?' Giles asks in irritation. Buffy shrugs.

'I thought he might be useful. We're going to try and pin down the creature that attacked Ethan and his buddy…' I shudder at the description, '…and see if we can force it to tell us who sent it after them. Willow's got this visibility spell all set up, and…'

'Sorry luv, you're one step behind again,' I tell her. 'We know who sent the invisible things…'

'…and we even know why,' Giles finishes.

'You do?' Buffy says. Giles fills her in. By the time he's finished, she's looking at me strangely.

'Wow! I always knew being popular had its downside!' Xander jokes with a nervous smile.

'Xander!' Giles snaps in exasperation. Spike and Buffy both glare at him, and he looks away awkwardly. Poor kid. He looks like that happens to him a lot, bearing the brunt of other people's annoyance and stress. I'm sorry now for being so irritable with him yesterday, glad I didn't actually snap at him. His awkward attempts at humour seem to be just a way of saying 'please-like-me.' And I do. He seems like a good kid. I flash him a smile.

'We have twenty-four hours until the council come to take him by force,' Giles finishes explaining. 'I don't suppose you have any bright ideas… if we could just buy time…'

Buffy interrupts him.

'So let me get this straight: You're telling me that all the council have to do to put an end to evil is hand him over to hell?' She looks me up and down. 'Giles, I don't mean to sound harsh, but… I think you should do it!'

I choke. She frowns slightly.

'Don't get me wrong, Mr Constantine. I'm not saying that Giles should hand you over… exactly. I'm just saying that if I was given this opportunity… I'd give my life willingly to put a stop to it. I'd be prepared to die. To go to hell. I'd give anything; I'd give everything… I- I'm not sure if it's right of you… of us… to fight this. I've devoted my entire life to defeating evil. And now you've been given a chance to destroy it completely… and you're throwing it away…'

Oh god, no! It's a terrible thought, but… I'm scared the girl's right. I've been sitting here trying to figure out ways of getting myself out of this… but maybe… just maybe, I should accept it.

It would be a way to wipe out all the guilt. All the bad things I've ever done, all the mistakes I've ever made, all the deaths I've ever caused, they'd be meaningless against this sacrifice. People would think: John Constantine? He might have been a bit of a bastard, but in the end, he was one of the good guys.

The trouble is… I'm not so sure I am one of the good guys. I mean… I'm not a bad person. I honestly believe I'm not. I know I've made my share of mistakes, but… I've done my share of good, too. I have! It's just that… maybe this is asking too much. I'm not sure that I dare. I'm afraid to die. And I'm not sure I have the courage to…

Spike's laughing. He's actually laughing. I could punch him. He's trying to say something but he's laughing so hard he can't catch his breath.

'Oh for god's sake, Slayer!' he manages eventually, gasping for breath and trying to suppress his snorts of laughter. 'You honestly think that giving the Big Guy Downstairs a surprise present is gonna make me stop wanting to kill people or hit things? Bloody hell!'

'I hate to say it, but I think Spike's right,' Giles says. 'Not all evil comes from the demon dimensions, Buffy. Some we create for ourselves.'

Buffy is silent for a moment, and then she nods slowly.

'So you are gonna fight this?'

'I have to fight this. If I thought it would do any good… well, that would be another matter. But as it is… I can't hand John over to the council.'