Part XIII: Interlude

"John will be worried," Angela muttered, glancing at Jade in the passenger seat. Midnite's had proved unsurprisingly uneventful, the witch doctor meeting them both at the door and asking that Angela please come back the next day, as he was going to be busy for the rest of the night. Angela wasn't sure that was the entire truth, as she noticed his gaze flicker toward Jade.

"No he won't." Jade was staring out the window at the passing cars. It was nearly two in the morning. "He's probably asleep. Maybe Chas is still up."

Angela didn't bother arguing a she parked next to the building sporting the flickering 'Bowl, Bowl, Bowl' in fluorescents. Both women got out of the car, and Jade stared at her.

"I can go up myself. You don't need to walk me."

"I want to see if John's up," Angela started, watching as Jade shrugged a shoulder and turned to walk into the building. She hurried to catch up—she'd never seen anyone more self-involved, save for John himself. They reached the stairs at the same time and walked up together, side by side, in silence. Angela reached the door first, and rapped quietly on the marked surface. There was a loud thump, a muttered curse, and brief scuffling. Moments later, a weary-looking Chas peered around the door, his eyes widening in relief.

"Jade!" He paused momentarily and noted Angela. "Angela." He opened the door wider. "Come in."

As soon as the two stepped over the threshold, Chas grabbed Jade by the shoulders, turning her to him.

"Where were you? We were really worried! I'm sorry about what I told you, I didn't mean to…I mean, are you alright? Where did you go? How did you end up with Angela—"

Jade cut him off with a shake of her head.

"I'm okay, Chas, it was nothing. Don't worry about it. I'm really tired, can we talk later?"

Chas eyed her suspiciously, and then dropped his hands from her shoulders.

"Sure, yeah, okay. You probably are tired, we can talk later," he replied, turning to Angela. "John's asleep." He pointed toward the bedroom-area that was still partitioned off, and Angela nodded, stepping over a pile of blankets and sliding the partition open slightly.

Jade looked relieved.

"Thanks."

She gave him a small smile and walked past him to the bathroom.

"John?" Angela whispered, shaking him slightly. "John."

"Chas, unless you're dying—no, dead—I don't want to hear about it," John muttered sleepily, turning over.

"It's not Chas, John, it's me."

One eye opened sleepily.

"Oh, it's you."

"Yeah…" Angela leaned forward and pecked him quickly on the lips. "Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted you to know I brought Jade back—"

"That girl's more trouble than she's worth."

"—Tell me about it," Angela muttered. "And I was wondering if you knew any…thing by the name of Ashtaroth?"

John opened both his eyes and stretched his arms above his head.

"Ashtaroth? Demoness, wanted me pretty bad…promised great sex…"

"Um…what?" Angela cocked her head curiously.

"Demon of seduction," John muttered, looking at the ceiling, "never liked me much for turning her down."

"Right," Angela decided to let it go. "She said something about a prophecy…do you know anything about a prophecy?"

Surprise and slight annoyance flashed through John's eyes, but he continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Prophecies are bullshit. Probably something to do with Jade, right?"

"Actually, I think so."

"Yeah. Nah, it's nothing."

"Okay…" Angela wondered briefly if he was keeping something from her. "All right, well I should get home then."

"Mmm," John reached an arm briefly around her and pulled her down beside him, kissing her possessively. "'Night."

Angela smiled, getting up off the bed as John gazed lazily at her.

"'Night, John."

Chas was sitting at the table, waiting for Jade to finish with the bathroom, when Angela left, giving him a small wave. He was still sitting there fifteen minutes later, when he heard the water stop running. And another fifteen minutes after that, until he seriously considered knocking on the door and asking Jade if she'd fallen in. He was just about to do exactly that when the door swung open, and he found himself face-to-face (well, almost, she was a couple of inches shorter than him) with a mostly-dry Jade Constantine wrapped in a towel.

"Listen, Jade," Chas sputtered, "It's okay if you don't want to tell me but—" Chas watched as she walked past him and into the spare room, closing the door in his face, "—where were you," he finished quietly to the wooden door.

A couple of minutes later, Jade came out of the room, running a comb through her still-damp hair and wearing a cropped black t-shirt and black sweatpants. Chas was still standing there, looking slightly hurt and confused.

"Don't you ever wear another color?" He asked.

She combed her hair down in front of her face to part it, and looked up at him through the wet strands.

"I look good in black," she stated simply, walking past him to the kitchen area.

"No arguments there," Chas muttered, following her.

Chas leaned against the counter and watched as Jade leaned down and opened the cabinet under the sink. After a couple of minutes of rooting around, she popped back up with an old towel and a bottle of soap. She turned the hot-water knob and held her hand under the stream to judge the temperature, "Look, Chas, I really just don't want to talk about it right now," she said, without turning back to him, "Things are complicated."

Chas nodded.

"Right," and moved next to her, picked up the towel, and started drying the dishes she was washing. "I—we—were just worried, that's all."

She smiled gratefully at him.

"I've lived in LA all my life, Chas, and I can take care of myself."

"I know, I—" he started, defensively.

Jade held up a hand, and laughed lightly.

"I know what you mean, Chas, it's okay. It's nice to have someone who actually cares if I'm alive long enough to make it home. But you've known me all of a couple of days? Don't go grey."

Chas smiled.

"Yeah…but you're family."

She looked at him ruefully, and handed him the last plate.

"Family is what you make of it, Chas." Something dark flashed through her brown eyes. "But thanks. Thanks for caring." She whispered the last part, and dried her hands on the towel he was holding.

"Any time," Chas muttered, as Jade made her way over to the couch and stretched out on it. Her eyes fluttered shut as she pulled the blanket up around her chin and curled into sleep. "Anytime, Jade."