Thank you for all the reviews! I was very grateful and I apologize that I haven't updated for such a long time, I'm very busy and...tired. Yup. I'm asleep. For all my life.

Notice: I do not own Constantine. If I did...mhm...he probably wouldn't be so lonely.

--

Constantine got slowly to his feet. The image of the double burned in his mind, not allowing him to think clearly. He stood by the window. The bastard had left the exorcist's flat about 30 seconds ago, he should be exiting the building at the moment, yet Constantine couldn't see him. Like if he vanished. He waited more than five minutes, then sighed and sat down on the chair next to the kitchen table.

The stereotyp's gone, I guess.

Before he could think about doing anything, another noise startled him, making him jump and grab the nearest weapon in his reach - a short knife. Constantine chuckled. This stabber wouldn't even hurt a rabbit. If there was a demon in his flat...well, if he was really lucky, the creature would have a nasty scratch.

„Ouch!"

Constantine knew that voice. It was not so long ago that he heard it for the last time. Yet it surprised him...and somehow frightened him, too. The person that talked to him then was buried nine days ago.

He entered the doorway and his dark eyes widened with surprise. „Chas?!"

I must have become God's favourite.

The younger man lifted his hand in a greeting and then turned his attention towards the problem, which was also the reason why he couldn't enter the flat silently. The huge white wings which grew from his shoulders didn't allow him to walk trough the door. Chas tried to duck and as one of the wings almost crashed the lantern, he gave up.

„Hey, John, how about droppin' that toy blade and helping me out?" he grinned.

As much as the whole situation left Constantine shocked, he quickly found his sarcastical himself again. „I thought these," he nodded towards the wings as he studied their length, „weren't supposed to be so...solid. Didn't they teach you up there how to make them fluctuant?"

Chas rolled his eyes at that remark. „We didn't get to that lesson yet, y'know? I arrived, saw just a bit of the place and then someone said: We have a job for you, boy. You know how much I hate when they call me boy?! I wanted to tell ‚em, but didn't have enough time to do so. So I'm here." He shrugged his shoulders, which was a bad idea. The lantern fell down. Luckily, Chaz was quick enough to catch it. He stretched his arms with the lantern towards Constantine. „Sorry. This is yours."

The exorcist took the lamp. It felt like a ridiculous dream. „Thanks, lad."

--

„So..." Constantine started when they finally got Chas to the living room, where he sat exhaustedly on the chair, „...how did you get here?"

„I walked." The exorcist gave him a look that could be translated into WHAT?, so Chas sighed and continued. „Can you imagine getting to the bus with this on your back?" He shook his head at the thought, glaring at the wings. „It was quite a long walk, that't why I'm here so late. I'm just grateful the others don't see it. They can't even touch it. It just affects me and...everything around." His gaze fell on the lantern, almost apologizing.

„I could have guessed." Constantine was snipping with his fingers. He really needed a cigarette. When he felt insecure or surprised, it always helped. „But that wasn't exactly what I asked about. I mean, how comes that they've sent you here?"

„Ah, I'm sure you will love the word," Chas chuckled. „The balance. Beeman and Henessy were something like white knights in the big Chess game, y'know. Our side has lost them both. And I..." he shrugged his shoulders. „Let's say they taught me some basic stuff that could be helpful and sent me back. Guess I'm too young for a retirement."

A chuckle escaped Constantine's lips. There was a silence for a while, but a comfortable one. As if two friends who haven't seen each other for years have been reunited again. The exorcist wanted to say something, something to express the weird feeling of relief that ran trough his veins now. But he couldn't; the shields protecting him from his emotions were too strong. He just said to himself: It's great to have you back, boy.

Chas raised an eybrow at him. „Yeah, I should have told ya...that sometimes I can catch the thoughts. I just hear them. So, thank you for the greeting, but...don't call be boy, alright?"

The exorcist just stared at him. Oh shit.

„That was precise."

--

„So...you had a visitor, am I right?" Chas' expression suddenly became serious.

Now it was Constantine's turn to raise an eyebrow and chuckle. „Just one? You underestimate the appeal of this flat, and mine too, Chas. Not one, but two visitors. Which one are you talking of?"

„Whom? I mean Maer, I'm not interested in your meetings with Angela...yet," he said amusedly. „But you can tell me all the details later," he added as he stretched his wings lazily. „Although nothing's gonna surprise me. I'm the experienced half-breed guy, so watch it."

Constantine smirked. „To be honest, I wish it had been her. But nope. I had a nice chat with J. Constantine II."

„What?!"

„And so departs Mr. Nothing's-gonna-surprise-me," the exorcist stated. Seeing Chas' shocked look, he continued. „Yeah, I've met my clone. That can make one's day."

Chas hit the table. „Damn. Now that's a problem. I hoped it would take him much longer to reach you."

„So, can you explain the „kill me, kill you, kill us both" stuff?" Constantine asked.

„Yeah. He's right. The thing he used on you used to be an acient healing ritual from Egypt which copied the soul, cleaned it from the illness and replaced the former soul with the new one. However, Mammon changed it. He found a way how to posess the copied soul and make it draw the life energy from the original soul until..." his voice faded away.

„Untill what?" the exorcist asked, although the answer was obvious.

„Don't make me say that, John."

Constantine laid his hands on the table. His breath was shaky, but he managed to calm down. No bloody copy's gonna take me down, he thought. „Can we do something? I hope you don't expect me to sit here and wait. I'm too impatient for that."

Chas smiled. „I know."

--

Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be up...well, not sure if soon, but when it's ready, it's here. Hopefully earlier than this one.