Author's Note: You may have notice I'm changing "luv" to "love". Just because the short term version annoys me.

Chapter Eight

If there was anything worse than a blow to the balls, John didn't want to know what it was. He doubled over on one knee, one hand pressed against the ground as the other covered his neither regions protectively.

Bloody hell, but the woman didn't even need him.

Zed came back into his line of vision as she sank to her knees. "John!" She whispered. "You're alive!"

"Can't be killed that easily." John wheezed out.

She hadn't realized how much she'd needed to see him, to know that he was alive until this very moment. He was alive and he'd come looking for her. "I'm sorry, I-I thought-"

John lifted his head and gave a tight smile. "I know exactly what you thought." He finished before she could. "Wish it woulda been the other bloke, though." He grimaced. "I kind of need my Johnny boy."

Zed could feel a weak smile tugging at her lips. They had unwanted guests and he was worried about his dick. "I'm sorry..." She trailed off when she saw his forehead and the beginnings of a bruise. "God John, what happened?"

His hair was even more messy than usual, parts of it dry and tangled with blood. She brushed the strands back, careful of the swelling.

"Sod got the upper one on me." He stood grudgingly and tugged at the groin of his pants and then unabashedly straightened himself. "Remind me never to sneak up on you again." He grabbed her arm and started in the opposite direction. "Come on. There's gotta be a place in here to hole up, because I'm pretty sure pops followed me in here."

Retributionest Martin thought he was going to lead him to Zed. He'd probably unintentionally done that, John knew, but he wasn't giving her up without a fight. No, he corrected himself, he wasn't giving her up at all. He'd hole up and stab pops in the back if the chance arose.

He could take him out. They just had to switch roles. He and Zed were the ones being hunted, not the other way around. Not yet. He needed dear ol' pops to leave the room so they could get out and head back into the sanity of the Mill House.

He moved ahead of her, but didn't let go of her hand. The blood on his hands had dried, gritting up beneath his fingertips. That wasn't necessarily a good feeling. The room had grown dark, though not completely hindering his vision. That information was nice to know. The Mill House was surprising him everyday. Apparently this was a whole different version of the Twilight Zone, if the Mill had its own days and nights.

He loved this bloody place.

"I'm sorry, Zed." He muttered, pulling her in behind him. "They shouldn't have been able to get inside." They shouldn't have. There was no ifs or buts. Nothing but shouldn't. He didn't know how, but he was going to find out, that was for sure.

"There." Zed whispered, pointing towards the podium that he'd found her at more often times than not.

"That's not going to add much cover, luv." John muttered, somehow managing to find amusement.

"If you can crawl under it..." She'd been here enough that she'd noticed any hidden flaws. The bottom half of the podium that was sealed around with white painted wood made the podium look completely solid. There was a small crawl space in the back that was missing and beneath the podium was hollow. Not spacious, but hollow and out of sight.

John hunched down in the back, pushing hid hands down the middle of a green bush and to either sides. "Don't know if I'll fit in that hole, luv." He muttered beneath his breath. The Mill came in handy and whether this was the Mills way of offering protection or not, he was taking it.

"Ladies first." John rocked back on his heels and watched as Zed managed to shimmy her body through the small hole on her belly and then crawl forward with her arms. How he was going to manage that, he didn't know. He waited until she was out of sight and then dropped down onto all fours and then his stomach.

"Sixes and sevens." John cursed as he ducked his head and squeezed his frame through the tight entrance and cracked wood. Zed reached out in the semi-darkness and grabbed his wrists. She couldn't have had much leverage flat on her stomach, but she pulled anyways.

Once in, he rolled onto his back and stared up at the podium floor which was, he was guessing, give or six inches from his face. "As much as I like a tight fit, this isn't one I'm particularly fond of."

Zed failed to hear the humor in his voice. "I'm...I'm sorry, John." This time it was she who was apologizing. Her voice shook. "For you, for all of this, for Chas-"

"Chas isn't dead." He murmured, his senses on high alert as he strained to listened for any telltale footsteps. He kept the shotgun pressed against his chest.

"He's alive?"

"He don't die that easily, either, love."

She blinked back the tears that were stinging her eyes. This was all her fault. His home had been invaded twice because of her. Chas had nearly died because of her, death as in not coming back. "I mean it, John. This is my fault-"

John rolled onto his side and his shoulder brushed up against the podium floor above their heads. He silenced her with his hand over her mouth. "It's not your fault. They made their choice." They - her father.

"I'm scared, John." Zed found herself admitting in the semi darkness when his hand fell away. That was a big omission on her part, because John knew she didn't show her weaknesses. "They'll use these visions. They'll hurt people."

"Hold that thought, love." John murmured and rolled onto his back suddenly. He shifted around and then dug his hands into his pants pocket before pulling out his cell phone. The cellular light blinded her before John cupped his hand around it and started texting.

"John, what are you doing?" Zed whispered dumbly.

He ignored her, his thumbs moving over the screen in silence, the light illuminating his face in shadwos.

"John?" She whispered again.

He turned his hand then. Her eyes moved over Chas' name at the top of the screen before moving to the message he'd just sent.

Got Zed. Four down, one to go. Shoot the sod if he comes out. Playing opossum until we can buggar off.

P.S Don't be pissing around and dying.

"Bloody brilliant." Zed whispered, mimicking his thick accent.

John shoved the phone back in his pocket and turned his head. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why are you wearing my trench?"

Of all the things he could have asked, she wasn't expecting that. Maybe that was why he'd asked it. Distraction. Because she was on the verge of tears. Beautiful distraction.

"Because I'm naked." She murmured, keeping her voice low. She turned on her side and dropped her forehead against his shoulder.

There was a prolonged silence before John spoke. "Why are you naked?"

"I was in the bath when shit went down." Zed said the words bluntly.

"So you used my trench as a towel?" John asked the words accusingly. Not that he minded...

"No, Chas gave it to me."

"Chas saw you naked?"

"No, John."

"Then why are you wearing my trench?" Zed lifted her hand, shielding her eyes when John's phone came into view, illuminating the darkness. The light dipped suddenly, moving over her body before came back to her face. "And naked?"

She knew the trench coat kept her covered, for the most part. But it was just a long overcoat, nothing more. "Because-" Zed whispered evenly. "-I was in the bath. Shit happened, I was in a towel, Chas gave me the only thing near by in case I needed to...run."

"I think that's become my favorite trench." He could really use a cigarette right now. Badly.

"Yes." Zed murmured, her tone sarcastic. "You'll think of me naked everytime you wear it."

"Right on that you are, love."

Zed sighed. How could he find the strength of a perverse sense of humor in their situation? But that perverse sense of humor kept the fear at bay.

The phone cast an eri glow again and John lowered it until the light hovered over his groin. "Bloody hell." He whispered.

Zed followed the trail of light and sighed again, dropping her forehead against the side of his shoulder. "Are you kidding me, John?"

"I can't control Johnny boy when he gets a stiffy, love. He operates all on his own."

"Think of something."

"I am." John murmured. He sounded far too serious and far too calm. Even though the light had died off, she had the distinct impression his lips were curved.

"Think of something else. Think of Chas."

She heard him inhale and then heard a smothered laugh.

"I swing both ways, love."

"Oh God, John...shut up." She whispered heatedly, slapping his shoulder.

"Once upon a drunken night, that was. One time deal on that one, though."

"Shut. Up."

His chest moved again, a silent laughter as he wiggled his arm beneath her head and tugged her against his side as he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. It was working. At least, for now. She was still scared, but he'd managed to calm her down. The trench coat thing had caught him for a loop, but he'd went with it.

So had his dick.

He knew her mind was working again, going over everything that could possibly go wrong because she had grown quiet again. Too quiet. Bleedin' Sod's Law, that was. He didn't need her losing it again. He needed her calm. Because if she started to freak out, a freaked out Zed was never a good Zed.

That hyperventalating thing she always did was a bad giveaway.

Not to mention loud. And he could hear the uneven breathes she was already starting to take.

Curling his hand around the shutgun, he deposited it on the opposite side and then rolled. He braced a forearm on the ground above her head and then cupped the side of her face, staring down at her.

"What are you doing?" Zed whispered, her eyes filled with sorrow. She braced her hands against his chest but didn't push.

"Distracting you." John murmured and kissed her. The position was a bit awkward because everytime he moved, the floor playing the ceiling brushed the top of his head if he moved too high. He swept his hands down and then cupped the back of her thighs and pushed her legs apart, falling between.

Further away from the ceiling, he kissed her, his lips moving over hers. Much better. The position left her knees bent, cradling him between her thighs. If there was one thing he was good at, it was distraction. His tongue swept out, teasing the seam of her lips.

Distraction. Her heart leapt in her throat and Zed could feel the tears building in her eyes. Because she was beyond terrified. She'd been truthful when she'd said she didn't want to go back. She'd been an unwilling recruit, a victim, all her life to her father and his cruscade. Every horrid vision, every prophecy that was fortold. She didn't want to go back to that. This was what she wanted. A freedom that John had shown her was possible.

Her father hadn't shown her how to control the visions. John had. John had taught her they had meaning. Not everything was meant to be used for the greater evil.

John had once said every little girl loves their father, no matter what he does. That was right, in a twisted sense. She couldn't fight her father, could she?

John brushed his thumb over her cheek and broke the kiss when he felt something wet. "Stop it." He murmured as his lips followed the single tear, his tongue tasting the salt. He kissed her chin and tilted her head back, his lips and tongue following the path of the tear down her slender throat. "Stop it." He murmured again.

He moved back up and took her lips again. He pressed down on her chin with his thumb and her lips opened beneath his and he took her mouth. Yea, he could use a kiss to distract her from the tragedy of her life.

He tasted less of cigarettes this time and more like the man himself. Zed lifted her hands and touched the nape of his neck, her fingers barely brushing the strands of hair there before moving upward. His hair was all over the place and stiff in some places from the dried blood. He was sucking at her lips, drawing her tongue into his mouth.

John broke the kiss and nudged her head back again, sliding down the front of her throat. There was something about her skin that he liked. It wasn't pale, but it was soft. He kissed the indention at the base of her throat, felt the way she worked her hands in his hair. He inhaled the faint scent of cigarettes from his trench coat and his own cologne. Bloody hell, but the trench was never going to be the same when he wore it.

He felt the buttoned collar on the trench coat brush up against his chin. He lifted his hands and pushed the button through the hole, his lips following the path revealed. She was breathing heavier now, but without the telltale sign of distress from before.

One more kiss.

One more button.

He pushed the second button through because he wanted to feel her soft skin. His fingers paused inches from her skin before touching her. He didn't touch her with anything but the tips of his fingers, sliding them up and down over her collarbone.

He knew just how to touch her, where to touch her and without barely touching her. She wanted to scream, cry and moan all at the same time. He lowered his head then and she felt the hot glide of his tongue dip into the indention at the base of her throat before he slid down, his tongue leaving a hot, wet trail all the way down her collarbone before the trench coat stopped him again.

One more, John thought as he pressed another kiss to her skin. One more button that he set his fingers to, baring another inch of tanned skin, even though he couldn't see it. His fingers trailed lower and he felt the upthrust of a breast beneath his fingertips.

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the slope.

Zed closed her hand in the hair at the back of his head. Her breath hissed out when he gave a bite, just enough to sting.

"Told you." Constantine murmured in the darkness, reminding her when he'd warned her that he liked biting.

She felt one of his hands tugging at the trench coat. The material dragged up around her calves and then up to her knees but their position stopped any further movement, caught between their hips. He moved up and his lips found hers again.

Zed sighed, the sound trapped between their lips. His hands were moving again, no longer interested in the buttons but in the trench coat. She could feel him between her thighs. He was hard, radiating heat. She tightened her thighs around his hips.

One more kiss, Johnny boy. John sank against her, his tongue moving in her mouth, hers following his. Just one more kiss for a distraction for her over worked mind and one more because he wanted it. One more kiss because he wanted to touch her.

Zed kissed him back, losing herself in his taste and the way he kissed. She couldn't wrap her legs around him fully because the coat was tight over her knees, allowing no further movement. One hand fell and she curled it around one side of his belt and moved her hips against him, pressing her body up against the erection behind his trousers.

He didn't release her lips, just forced a hand between the hard ground and her ass. He pushed her up against him while grinding his hips down at the same time.

Just one kiss, Johnny boy. He kept repeating the phrase to himself, because that was all he was doing. He was kissing her. Touching her. But he was kissing her into the distraction she needed.

She moaned, her hand clenching in his hair and he broke the kiss. "Sshh." He shushed her bluntly, as if she should know better and went back to the smooth skin of her throat, sliding over her collarbone.

He bit her again, this time harder.

She gasped.

"Shh." John murmured again.

He rocked his hips against hers again and Zed followed the movement. She shifted her hold on his belt, held it tighter and pulled him harder against her. His tongue soothed the stinging on her breast before he was biting her, and then sucking on her smooth skin.

"John." Zed moaned out his name, the words little more than a hiss. Something soft hit her face before his hand followed, stuffing the soft cloth in her mouth.

"Ssshh." He said again.

She could barely see him in the darkness, but she caught his expression. He was staring at her with annoyance before his head dipped down again. The cloth had dried her mouth and when she pulled it out, she didn't have to see it to know it was his tie. His hands were moving and then the third button slipped free.

She pressed the tie against her mouth and nose, inhaling. He bit down on her nipple. "Joh-" She bit down on the folds of his tie.

"Be quiet." John muttered against her nipple. He wasn't even really aware of himself saying the words. They just came. His mind was too focused on the matter at hand.

He lowered his hands and cupped her knees, forcing his fingers under the trench coat trapped tight over her knees. He lifted his hips and then freed one knee and jerked the trench coat up around her waist one handed. Sinking back down against her, he could feel the heat from her body. Yea, she was naked alright.

"One more." John whispered the words aloud this time as he moved back up her body and kissed her again. His forearm moved over her head again, resting against the ground while the other gripped her ass again, squeezing.

Zed wasn't exactly sure what 'one more' meant or even why he'd said it, but she honestly didn't care. He was moving against her, grinding his erection against her. His belt buckle dug into her stomach and she pushed her hands against his stomach. He moved a fraction of an inch, but didn't release her lips. Her fingers fumbled at the buckle before she tugged the belt free and then jerked her arm outward, belt still in her hand. The belt freed itself from the loops and hit the poidum floor above their heads when she threw it.

She grabbed his front pockets and jerked him back down against her.

John groaned.

John moved suddenly, rearing back. Remembering where he was, he moved back as far as the podium would allow, pressing his back up against the floored ceiling. He was still so close to Zed he could have reached out and kissed her. His hands moved and then his khaki's were hanging open. He reached into his back pocket and flipped his wallet out, digging through the contents.

Zed forced her eyes open and in the dim setting, she could see him thumbing through his wallet, a look of impatience on his face. He pulled out a condom and and ripped it open with his teeth and her eyes dropped down to his cock. She watched in hot shock as he rolled it down his cock in one swift movement and then he was crawling over her again.

Whatever she'd been about to say was lost just as quickly as she'd found it when he kissed her. She could feel his hand moving between her thighs, positioning his body against hers. Her back arched and she cried out when he thrust his hips.

John slapped his hand over her mouth, his eyes squeezing shut at the hot relief that filled him when her body wrapped tight around his. She was just as tight as she'd been then and it felt bloody damned good. His hand fell to the side of her mouth and then off. With one arm still over her head and the other hand clenching and opening in the dirt, he pulled his hips back.

And thrust back in.

He fell against her, the back of his shirt sticking to his back. He moved again and closed his eyes, his forehead dropping against the slope of her shoulder bared from the trench.

Zed wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hanging on limply. He was moving against her, thrusting slowly and she could feel his hot puffs of breath whenever he exhaled. She squeezed her eyes shut, reveling in the feel of his body thrusting in and out. She didn't want this to end. A tear leaked out of the corner of her as she held him against her.

Because she didn't want this to end. This peace Constantine made her feel. She liked this. She liked Constantine, the things he showed her, the things he made her feel.

Constantine turned his head and kissed his shoulder, his lips curling back in a grimace as he thrust. He lifted his head when she moaned again but instead of looking for the tie, he covered her mouth with the palm of his hand again.

"Shhh. Be quiet." John muttered as he rose over her, his right hand tangling in her hair. His movements became a little more irregular. He could see the gleam of her eyes in the semi darkness, feel the way her body opened and closed around his with every thrust. "Bloody hell." He panted out when the next thrust had his balls drawing up. He reared back onto his knees and forgot about the low floored ceiling. He hit the sodden podium again and growled out another word before coming back over her, his hips slamming home.

Zed moaned again, arching up beneath his slow thrusts. She almost wished he would go harder, but from the way he'd just banged his head, he was having difficulty there.

His hand slapped over her mouth again, his eyes boring into hers. "Be bloody quiet."

Didn't he understand she couldn't help it? He may have been able to hide those groans of his that she remembered, but she was having a hard time controlling...focusing...when he thrust...

God, John was moving at a steady pace, thrusting in and out. Over and over. Her body tightened around his. Zed followed the withdrawl of his hips, riding his cock because right there, right there...

John cursed silently when he felt her teeth sink into the flesh of his palm, muffling the high cry she gave. He cursed again, not because it hurt and he didn't remove his hand, but because she was coming around him. He moved against her harder, grinding his hips faster. Ah, he wished the damned floor wasn't blocking his back because he could have went harder...

He thrust hard, his head falling back as his hips short stroked and then he was hilting inside her again as his cock twitched. He felt the boiling pleasure start from his balls and up through his dick as he came, his cock throbbing in the condom until he sank against her soft body, shuddering.

"Barmy." John whispered as he struggled to breath past the constriction in his chest. He'd had plenty of sex in his life. Lots, in fact. Sex was good. Bloody damned good. Or maybe that was just Zed. He grimaced at the thought that out of all the sex he'd had with numerous partners, that Zed came to mind at that.

Zed didn't release John, she just laid there, her arms wrapped tight around his shoulders with her knees still bent. Her heart was thudding in her chest irregularly and she was hot. She didn't mind his weight. He was...comfortable, if you could say that about a man who probably had a concussion with his hands covered in dried blood. She blinked past the stinging in her eyes.

She could feel him growing soft in her, but he didn't make any move to withdraw. He just lay there, panting silently against the side of her neck. She turned her head so that his hand fell and he let it, pushing it against the hard ground. "This is crazy." Zed finally whispered. Considering why they were here in the first place, very crazy. Dangerously crazy.

"Barmy." John muttered again in agreement. He sighed heavily, even if a very satisfied sigh and rolled to his back. He lay there, his chest moving up and down irregularly until he managed to slow his heart rate down. He could feel his still half hard cock against the inside of his thigh, the band of the condom a reminder that it still lay there.

He sat up and then bumped his head again and cursed before falling back to one elbow and tugging the condom off. He tossed it to only God knew where in the semi darkness. He really hoped he didn't touch it by accident when he managed to crawl out. Sitting up as much as he could, he tucked his cock back into his briefs and then fastened his pants.

"Are you alright?" John murmured, falling to lie flat on his back again. His hand shook. He really needed a cigarette. He turned his head and could make out her hands moving buttoning the coat back up before she smoothed the lower half of the coat back in place over her legs.

"Of course." Zed said, pushing damp strands of hair away from her face. Why wouldn't she be? All they'd had was sex. Sex in the one place they shouldn't. Why wouldn't she be alright? All they had was her father looking to either maim John, if not fully kill him and to bring her back into his Cruscaders as the mother of the Messiah. Her throat closed off.

John rolled onto his side swiftly, using his elbow to keep him up over her. "Look at me, Zed."

A heavy footstep sounding on the stairs of the podium.

"John-"

John clamped his hand over her mouth before she could get his name out fully. With his other, he closed his fingers around the butt of the shot gun. Much good the gun would do right here. He didn't have enough room to shoot through the floored ceiling.

Zed couldn't move as she listened to the boards groan beneath the footsteps, not because her father was heavy, but just an echo of his footsteps. She tensed, barely able to even breath. The steps walked first one way and then the other before they were moving down the steps again.

Go, go you bloody bastard, John thought. He waited impatiently until he heard the familiar sound of a wooden door swinging shut.

One room down - he was moving on. "Come on. Now." John rolled onto his side and pulled Zed with him, painfully positioning himself until he was again facing the crooked wooden support that had acted as an entrance. He was surprised to find it wasn't so dark this time around. He knew that time didn't move differently in the Corridor, the Corridor acted as it pleased.

He forced his body through the small crawl space and once out, turned around and hunched down, sticking one hand out. Zed's hand appeared out of the space, curling her fingers around his wrist as he helped pull her out.

They were covered from front to back in dirt and twigs. Constantine stood and started brushing brushing at the front of his clothes and then what he could at the back. He bent over than and started scratching his head furiously, running his fingers through his hair. Flakes of red sailed to the ground.

"Bloody itches." He muttered. Dried blood was a bitch.

Zed sucked in a heavy breath. Close call? She lifted her head Constantine begun pulling her hair. "What are you doing?"

"You've got twigs in your hair." He brushed his thumb over her nose. "And dirt on your face."

She probably did, didn't she? She looked up and paused. His hair was sticking up in random places and while his face was smudged with dirt, there were lines of sweat going down his face that were tinted pink, barely noticiable. Blood from his hair, probably.

Staring at him, the stuble on his jaw, the messy hair and sweat, she could feel a blush forming on her cheeks. He'd worked up a sweat.

He grabbed her hand and towed her towards the door. "Come on. That's what I was waiting for. If he's ahead of us and moving deeper in the Corridor, we can get back to Chas. There's only one exit and the bloke has to come out sometime."

Shotgun in one hand, he pulled the door open and then took her hand again. He stepped out gun first, relieved when he saw no one. "Come on." He said again and started off at a brisk pace towards the Corridor door.

He squeezed her hand when he turned the corner and finally saw the Corridor entrance.

A familiar sound reached his ears and he spun on his heel. He still held Zed's hand and gave it a squeeze without thought. Anger and disbelief filled him, making itself known in his thick accent. "Barmy stonker. Now you show up. Where the hell have you been?"

"I'm sorry, John. I was busy." Manny said and his expression pissed John off even more.

"Busy? You were busy? Where are you when I actually need you?" John snapped out. He was getting tired of this heavenly host' just pissing around. He caught sight of white coming into view and black lofa shoes. He lifted the shotgun one handed. While Martin wasn't capable of hurting the angel, it would have been satisfying to watch Manny put the man in his place. But John wanted that pleasure.

He cocked the shotgun and pulled the trigger. Zed jumped but didn't pull away. If anything, she was clinging to his arm.

Manny spread his wings wide and the shell ricocheted off, embedding in the ceiling.

John's eyebrows snapped down.

"I'm sorry, John. Destroying the unrepentant is the only way of retribution. The Messiah will change what we can't." Manny said and lifted his hand.

John went flying backward and straight through the open entrance of the Corridor. He slammed up against the mantle, his shoulders cracking the mirror. He groaned as he crumbled to the floor, vaguely aware of Chas rushing forward. He picked himself up unsteadily. "Ben Elohim." He muttered.

Chas was there in an instant, pulling one of John's arms over his shoulders. "What?"

"Ben Elohim." John muttered again, murder in his eyes as he stared at Manny. He took one step but before he'd even took a full breath, Zed was gone. Martin was gone. Manny was gone.

"Get the map and the scrying crystals." John snapped out.

"Zed." Chas said, reluctantly releasing John.

"No." John said and stalked towards the map himself. "We're looking for a Ben Elohim with a very powerful Glamour Spell." Because where he found Manny, he'd find Zed.

-Your reviews mean the world to me-

Author's Note:

Ben Elohim means Fallen Angel.

Stonker means huge.

Sod's Law is the same thing as Murphy's Law. What can go wrong, will go wrong.

Sixes and Sevens means messy or topsy turvy.