A/N: Am I the only one who noticed that FF just completely zonked out all of sudden? O.o It did for me. I would have updated much sooner if it would have let me on.

JD felt dread building up inside him like a bomb just waiting to explode. The dust cleared, and his breath hitched in his throat at the sight of…

…Perry standing completely unharmed, holding out a long, sharp piece of wood in one hand, which also happened to be sticking straight through and out the other side of the cockroach-demon's chest, while in his other hand was his silver handgun, which was pointed right into the thing's flat face.

"Move," the redhead warned, "and you won't live to see another half-assed sunrise down in that dark smelly place under your feet. Not that you aren't dead already, but you catch my drift." He smirked slightly at his own dark humor.

The monstrous insect actually had the sense to gulp. But then it began to give off a light, getting smaller and smaller, morphing into something shockingly familiar. A human. It was of course, still in fact a demon, but you get it. He was tall, but his face was flat, rounded and ugly. His hair was short and brown, but his eyes were a bright, hateful red. The deadly wood still protruding from his back, he coughed violently, blood spewing out of his mouth, and Perry flinched back to avoid getting hit by the acidic liquid.

JD marched straight up to him, ripping the spear-like weapon clean out of his chest, effectively making the other demonic man scream in agonizing pain. He fell to his knees, still coughing and gasping for breath, and JD crouched to get on eye level. "Bajeezus, Artik," he sneered, which looked strangely out of place on his normally calm face, "how pathetic do you have to be to get your ass handed to you by a human?" He glanced over his shoulder at the others. "No offense."

They all shrugged. He was right, in a way.

Artik barely managed to snarl at him, "You're one to talk!" his voice was scratchy and unpleasant, and his teeth were positively repulsive. He may be have been put down for the count, but there was no mistaking the burning hatred in his crimson eyes. "You used to be hu--"

"Did I say you could speak?" JD cut him off sharply. Artik bit his lip, but wisely chose to stay silent. "Good. You know, Lucifer could've been smarter than to send you after me. What, did he think that a few centuries would make me rusty? In his dreams." With that, he placed a cool hand on Artik's forehead, before pushing down slightly, a black substance enveloping the ugly humanoid, before both of them vanished in a burst of foul air.

Perry almost gagged. Damn, did that stuff smell bad. JD seemed unaffected by it, however.

"What did you do?" Elliot squeaked, walking towards him to stare at the spot where Artik used to be, which now only held a dark spot from the smelly air. JD stood, relaxing and letting all hostility drain from his body language. He took a deep breath, relief washing over him that all this was over and answered the blonde, "Sent him back to hell, where he belongs." He smiled at her.

She stared. "What?" He asked, looking genuinely confused. Elliot just couldn't seem to register how someone could be so innocent one second, and a killing machine the next.

"So," Perry started, grinning his signature lopsided half-grin half-smirk, "are all demons that ugly in full form, or are we just lucky?" he couldn't help but ask. For a minute he regretted it, but JD didn't seem offended. Not that he cared. Perry Cox didn't give a damn about anyone more than professionally, it was fact.

…So why did his heart always skip a beat whenever JD looked at him with his baby blues?!

JD snorted good-naturedly, smiling at him. "I'm damn sure better-looking than Artik. Everyone is." Perry had half a mind to smile back, but realized that would be way too out of character. People were giving him enough odd looks as it was whenever JD was around. The girl just brought out the nice in him, it was disturbing. Bobbo had said it himself.

Ah, Bobbo. The old prick was a retired hunter, so he had agreed to let the four-person team have the raven-haired demon follow them around the hospital, as he seemed to know a lot about medicine. When he asked JD how he knew so much, however, he didn't answer. He decided not to press the matter, as it seemed to be personal. Ted, Kelso's loyal yet clinically depressed assistant/lawyer, had been sworn to secrecy, which he agreed to out of fear for the elderly man.

"What now?" Turk asked, approaching to stand beside them, Carla right beside him. He looked a bit winded. They all did, except for, of course, JD.

JD didn't answer immediately, instead, he watched amusedly as Elliot hyperventilated. "Now we figure out how to rescue the Others, my supposedly dead comrades." He smiled faintly at the last part, as if at some inner joke that only he knew. They'd kill me if I called them that in their presence. He thought to himself.

Turk opened his mouth. JD beat him to it. "I know what you're gonna say. Yes, they're alive." It took a second, but they all seemed to accept this. Minus Elliot, who only started to breath faster.

"Jesus, Barbie," Perry growled, pinning the freaking out woman under his crazy gaze, "you look like you have a damn hemorrhoid." At that, she started to calm down a bit. Was it just him, or did she seem to be freaking out a lot those past three days, even more so than usual? For the love of Zeus, she was supposed to be a trained professional, not a damsel in distress! It was pissing the Irishman off.

Ignoring them, Carla inquired almost skeptically, "And how do you suppose we do that, Bambi?" Her arms were held akimbo, one eyebrow arched slightly. Carla-from-the-Block was on the loose.

JD shrugged nonchalantly. "Hell if I know. All I know is that we gotta do it." He put his hands in his jacket pockets. "Besides, it's always funner when you wing it, right?" He smiled widely at them all. "After all, if we don't, then Lucifer's plans to wipe out humanity will go unchallenged, and you'll all die within the next thirty years." His smile never wavered once.

Everyone gaped at him.

"Now wait just a second!" Elliot screeched. "I didn't ask for this! Just to be thrown into something that's bigger than all of us!" She gave him her best glare. "Why do we have to go through with this at all?!"

JD stared at her. It wasn't a stare of shock, no, no. It looked more like the stare that a wise elder would give to a child acting foolishly. "Because you don't have a choice." He answered sagely. "Everything that you've trained for, everything that you've been warned of, all of the looks that psychics have given you-- true psychics can tell when someone has a certain destiny in store for them, you know that." He gave Perry a pointed stare, silencing the man who looked about ready to speak. He continued, "It has all led up to this. This is what you were meant for. You can't run from it. You can't hide from it. No matter where you go, it will follow. I will follow." He finished his speech. The more he spoke, the louder his voice got, and the more it echoed around the cathedral, only adding to it's dramatic effect.

The four stared at him in awe, even Perry was impressed. But he'd never admit it. Ever. Though something told him JD could see right through him.

And as JD started to speak again, everything got even more quiet, as if the whole church were eager for his next words:

"And that, Simba, is the Great Circle of Life."

And suddenly it was gone. The tension in the air was released as if giving a simultaneous sigh of exasperation. Turk cackled with laughter. Carla and Elliot gave the raven looks of utter disbelief.

Perry smacked him over the head. JD yelped in pain, shielding his head with his arms. "What the hell did you ruin the moment for, you little rat bastard?!" The redhead snarled, and JD winced.

It was so worth it.

A/N: Well. That was interesting. I tried to make it funny and serious, but I think I failed. Horribly. Anyways, review?