AN/ This chapter includes a summery of a deleted scene containing Ellie the half-breed. I decided to includeher into this fic because the film makers were pained to delete her. I also must say that it was difficult not to type the word 'she' when referring to Gabriel, as he was played by an actress. I caught myself out a few times, but I should be okay as far at that goes. Thank you to those who reviewed.

Later that day, Constantine went to visit a half-breed demon acquaintance of his named Ellie. Now that he knew for sure he was going to die soon he was eager to see if he could negotiate with the two sides, see if one could cut him some slack. Ellie reminded him that her boss was waiting for him, that he couldn't wait to tear him up for all the demons he had exorcised back to Hell, that John was "the one soul he would come up here to collect himself." He would have no luck there.

He asked her if she had seen or heard anything unusual.

"Nothing out of the ordinary in my day-to-day," she replied with a smile. "And brother, that's saying something."

I scowled at her, and had to bite my tongue to keep my comments to myself.

Constantine asked Ellie to "keep your ear to the ground."

She had laughed at that. "Most nights that's where it ends up anyway." She expressed that she was going to miss having "someone up here I can relate to."

John Constantine agreed with her.

Now John and I were in Chas' cab once again. It was pouring with rain as we sat, parked outside the Theological Society. Constantine had had a little too much to drink, and was trying to hide it. I sat with him in the back seat as he weighed up the pros and cons of going inside the building and having a chat to the Snob inside.

Anput and Chas were chewing on raspberry liquorice in the front. Chas wasn't very happy to be out and about and having to drive Constantine around in the rain. "All right, question," Chas said. "How much longer do I have to be your slave, John?"

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Constantine sighed. "You're not my slave, Chas. You're my very appreciated apprentice." Chas rolled his eyes. Constantine didn't notice. "Like Tonto or Robin. Or that skinny fellow with the fat friend."

I couldn't help but smile at the reference to Jay and Silent Bob.

"Right, so why then don't I apprentice something besides driving then, John?"

Constantine didn't answer. Instead, he opened the cab door. I took that has my cue to also exit the cab.

"John? John. I love our little talks, John," Chas called after him.

Constantine and I hurried into the building, him not noticing Angela slip in behind us.

Inside it seemed both warm and cold at the same time; warm because we were out of the rain, cold... well, because of one of the characters here. There were rows and rows of shelves of books. A blood-red carpet ran from the door to the far end of the room, where a grand fireplace was set into the wall. Above the fireplace there was an enormous painting depicting the crucifixion, mainly the moment when Jesus was stabbed with the spear. In front of the fireplace there were two people talking. One was of this world. The other wasn't. I could imminently tell which was which. So could Constantine. The being would also be able to detect John. He had the power to do that and then some.

Constantine walked with purpose, shaking rain off his coat. A young priest intern walked up, stopping us in our tracks. "May I take your coat, Mr Constantine?"

"No thanks, I'm not going to be staying long," he replied curtly.

The intern looked over John's shoulder. "How about you, ma'am?"

For the first time, John noticed Angela was there. She stepped up beside him. "Oh no, I'm not staying long either." She took a breath. "I really need to speak with him. It's very important."

I watched as John recognised her from the hospital. He didn't care about why she was there. "First come, first served."

Angela frowned and gave Constantine a double take. She looked him up and down, also recognising him. "Oh. So you're rude no matter where you are."

The two men by the fireplace shook hands and parted ways. The intern nodded and stepped aside. Constantine and Angela moved towards the fireplace, both going the same pace and with equal determination. They threw a look at each other, silently asking if this was meant to be more of a challenge then it already was. I had to move fast to catch up with my assignment. I admit I felt relief when Angela peeled off to greet the senior priest, Father Garret. Constantine continued on ahead to wards the person who was now standing with his back to us, facing the monstrous fireplace.

John slowed as he neared him. As did I. I gasped suddenly, eyes wide, as the figure before us spread his wings. I could only see them for a few seconds, - Constantine could always see them - but in those few seconds I took in all I needed to know. Actually, I already knew it, but to see it for real…I was in awe. The wings were huge, but still in excellent proportion to the rest of the body. The backs of them were dark grey, and I knew the undersides were lighter grey. These weren't the stereo-typical heavenly white wings. My first thought after "Wow!" was "Yep, definitely an angel." And who is one of the most famous angels? Gabriel, of course.

Constantine wasn't as impressed as I was. He circled around the plush, scarlet chairs that separated him and the winged figure in the expensive-looking suit. Gabriel was staring deep into the fire. He didn't even look at Constantine right away. I numbly followed my assignment. Something told me to keep a healthy distance from the half-breed angel, probably my knowledge of his near future. I willingly followed these instincts.

"I know what you want, son," Gabriel said, his voice very feminine, yet still extremely strong.

"Still keeping your all-seeing eye on me, Gabriel?" The angel turned to face Constantine. I was struck by the coldness of his sea-green eyes. "I'm flattered."

Gabriel licked his lips, studying John for a moment. He knew why he was here, seeking advice. "Well, I could offer something about how the shepherd leads even the most wayward of his flock…" He smiled coldly. I could see why they called him the Snob. "…but it might sound disingenuous."

My thoughts were briefly interrupted by me unintentionally tuning into the conversation Angela was having with Father Garret. Angela was arguing that Isabel should have a Catholic funeral, that she didn't commit suicide. The priest had to regretfully disagree. I wretched my thoughts from there and placed my attention back on Constantine and Gabriel. Constantine was now sitting in one of the chairs. Gabriel listened to him, hands in his pockets.

"I've been seeing some unusual soul traffic lately," John said. He rose to his feet. "You might consider giving me an extension." Gabriel moved to sit in the other chair while John stood by the fireplace. "I could do your side some good these days."

Ah, so John was trying to bargain with Gabriel. I shook my head sadly. It wasn't going to work.

Gabriel thought so too. "You still trying to buy your way into Heaven?"

Constantine scowled. "What about all the minions I've sent back? That alone should guarantee my entry."

"How many times have I told you?" Gabriel sounded like a parent or a primary school teacher who was trying to remain calm and patient with a stubborn child. Not angry, just frustrated slightly because he had to repeat himself so many times. "That's not the way this works."

Constantine approached the angel. Some of his anger seeped into his voice. "Why, haven't I served Him enough?" He found he couldn't hold Gabriel's gaze for long and he looked down. "What does He want from me?"

"Only the usual. Self-sacrifice, belief."

Now John let more of his anger show. He started to pace. "Oh, I believe for Christ's sake!" he spat. I had to step aside so he wouldn't hit me. I was a tad intimidated by him in this state and didn't want to bear the brunt of Constantine's anger. I moved behind the chair Gabriel sat in. It was as close as I dared get to the angel. Gabriel, who would have beared the brunt if he weren't massively more powerful than Constantine, wasn't intimidated in the least. He pointed a scolding finger at him.

"No, no, you know. And there's a difference. You've seen."

"I never asked to see. I was born with this curse." Constantine stormed back towards Gabriel.

"A gift, John," the angel corrected. "One that you've squandered on selfish endeavours." He stood up.

"I'm pulling demons out of little girls," Constantine snapped. "Who's that for?"

Gabriel faced him, his back to the fire. "Everything you've ever done, you've only ever done for yourself. To earn your way back into His good graces."

I sucked on my teeth. Gabriel had a good point there.

Constantine moved to a pedestal with a large Bible resting on it. "Impossible rules, endless regulations…" he snapped the Book closed and flung it angrily at Gabriel's feet. "…who goes up, who goes down, and why." The Bible landed with a mighty thud which echoed throughout the building and caught Angela's attention. I gulped. Constantine walked right up to Gabriel, got in his face. "You don't even understand us. You're the one who should go to Hell, half-breed."

"Careful, John," I said. Insulting an angel was not a clever move, especially one who really had been on Earth for too long.

I couldn't see Gabriel's eyes clearly, but I knew that they glowed with unearthly power. I could feel it, the anger, the warning, the danger…and something else entirely that I couldn't put a name to. If I could sense that, then I knew Constantine could too. My assignment stepped back and all but collapsed in the angel's vacant chair. I could sense his weariness. He had his face down, staring at the carpet. I wanted to comfort him, but I didn't know how he would react to it. Then he asked the question everyone at one time or another asks: "Why me, Gabriel?"

The angel didn't answer right away. His eyes still burned supernaturally. I suspected he was fuming inside. Everyone asks 'why me?'!

"It's personal, isn't it?" Constantine muttered. "I didn't go to church enough, I didn't pray enough, I was five bucks short on the collection plate. Why?"

The angel swooped down to kneel in front of him. He looked into his eyes, and told him the blunt truth. "You're going to die young because you smoked thirty cigarettes a day since you were fifteen." Constantine looked away, not really wanting to hear this. It seemed for a brief time that he didn't want to know why after all. Gabriel fought to keep his gaze. "And you're going to go to Hell…" He shook his head sadly. "…because of the life you took."

There was a pause. Constantine looked into Gabriel's eyes. I caught myself mouthing Gabriel's last line with him. It summed up everything. "You're fucked."

Gabriel stood and turned away from him. Constantine, realising he was out of options, rose and headed for the door. I moved after him.

"I'm sorry," I told him, though I wasn't sure why. It wouldn't help much.

John paused briefly and looked hard at me. "You're not a spirit of death, are you?"

I couldn't answer that. The answer would be "no," but that wouldhave given him away the ending. So I could only sigh and look away. Constantine stormed out the door in a coughing fit. Now that he knew there was next to no hope, his cancer was reminding him that time was ticking.

It was still raining outside. We met up with Angela standing somewhat miserably on the steps, her arms folded in front of her chest against the slight chill. She and Constantine looked at each other. John went inside his pockets for a smoke.

"At least it's nice out," he muttered sarcastically. He could have just been talking to himself, or to Angela, or to me. It didn't matter. I eyed the cab still parked in front of the building hopefully, but knew John wasn't going to be sensible and get into it. "He always had a rotten sense of humour." John went for his lighter and lit the cigarette now between his lips. He blew smoke and bundled his coat around himself, preparing to make a run for it. "And his punch lines are killers." I sighed, not particularly wanting to run through the rain, but having no choice.

I reluctantly fell into step beside him as he walked out into the downpour. We walked past the cab and Chas opened his door to call to him. "John! Constantine, it's raining! John! Hey!" Then, because it was obvious John was doing everything he could to ignore him, Chas gave up and retreated back into the cab.

I allowed myself a tiny smile. Now at least Angela knew my assignment's name. She would be able to look him up and the story could progress. Constantine coughed harshly and my smile vanished. There was still a long, painful road ahead.