"Pack a bag, love. We're going to the Big Apple." John announced.

He walked into the room to see Jade sitting in silence with a cup of tea. Her eyes were set on the necklace with a ring attached to it that she was holding in her hand. She hummed as a response.

John hesitated before pulling up a chair and sitting down next to her. "You know, he didn't deserve you."

Jade rolled her eyes before finally looking at him. She wasn't surprised that he knew about Will. After Chas looked into her family, she was sure that John knew more than he let on.

"He ended up in an asylum because of me."

"He ended up in an asylum because he couldn't handle the truth."

After her parents died and her siblings got injured, Jade turned to the only comfort she had. The man she was engaged to, William. But her powers were haywire along with her emotions and seeing it scared him as much as it scared her.

Being around her was too much so he ran away and into the arms of the nearest psychiatrist. They thought he was crazy and should be kept under watch. Jade tried to convince them to let him go but as soon as he saw her near, he begged them to let him stay inside where it was safe.

Where she couldn't reach him.

"There was some truth to what you said while possessed. You can't deny that." Jade argued.

He frowned at her conviction. If anyone was a monster, it was him and no one else. His soul was damned, but not hers. Never hers. He would do anything to keep it that way.

"I've seen what real monsters look like," his hand touched hers, "and you, Jade Phillips, are not one of them."

The skin contact made her breath hitch. It got worse when his thumb stroked her skin in a soothing manner. She looked at him and forgot all about the past.

What good was it looking back when what she wanted was in front of her?

She smiled at him. "You know, you can be really kind when you want to."

A breathy chuckle left his lips. The sound was a rare one. Jade could listen to it forever and not get bored. John looked at her with amusement shining in his eyes before smirking.

"It's one of my many charms, love." he replied.

They were both smiling at each other, not even realizing they have yet to let go of each other's hands. It was then that Zed decided to come in.

"Hey, we should probably-" she cut herself off.

At the sight of John's and Jade's hands holding one another, she was pulled into a vision. The room was engulfed by darkness, only highlighting two figures.

John's face wrecked with guilt and pain as his and Jade's hands were wrapped around a knife. A pained smile tugged at Jade's tear stained face. Then John plunged the knife into her chest.

Zed was pulled back from her vision by John's hands on her shoulders. A gasp left her as she abruptly stepped back from him.

"How could you do that to her?" she breathed.

John frowned as he didn't understand the disdain and shock on Zed's face. It must've been one of her stronger visions because she was there and then just gone for a few moments.

"What are you talking about, Zed? What did you see?" he asked.

Jade's heart beat fast as she never saw her friend that distraught before. Not even while talking about her past with her father. It worried her more than she'd like to admit.

"I saw you! Y-you killed her. Why would you do that?" Zed demanded to know.

Rationally, she knew that whatever she saw was the future so there's no way John would know. But she couldn't help but feel betrayed. Like he had been planning to do it for a while.

It was John Constantine. Anything was possible.

"Killed who?" He asked.

Deep down, he felt like he knew the answer to that question. But he couldn't accept it so he had to ask Zed, in hopes that she would say anyone else's name. Anyone but her. Yet it was futile.

Zed turned to her friend with wide eyes. "Jade."

------

The hospital reminded Jade of unpleasant memories. Ones she'd prefer to bury deep down instead of having to confront them. Kind of like the conversation she was having right now.

"Are we seriously not going to talk about this?" Zed whispered urgently.

John was walking a couple of feet in front of them, pretending to not be aware of the hushed conversation being held. To be honest, he had no desire to hear it.

If he thought about Zed's vision for too long, a pit of despair would consume him, and he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Jade sighed. "There's nothing to say."

Zed looked at her in disbelief. Her friend just found out that she was going to die, probably soon, at the hands of the man that was in the same room as them.

And yet she was so passive. Like it didn't matter. For a moment after Zed told them about her vision, such fear and anguish had passed through all three of them.

Then Chas called and it was like a switch got turned off in the pair and the only upset one was Zed.

"Nothing to say? John kills you in my vision." she argued.

Jade swallowed a lump in her throat as her eyes looked at the back of John's head. Her head was filled with thoughts and conspiracies as to why Zed would see such a thing. If she even did see that or something alike it.

Nothing she came up with calmed her down. Only made her spiral even more. The only person she wanted to talk about it with was the same one she now feared to speak with. She didn't think that she truly wanted to know if he knew something.

"We don't know what happens in this vision of yours. What we do know is that Chas needs us right now. So drop it."

Her voice was cold, firm. Whatever that vision was, she couldn't do anything about it at the moment. Chas needed them more. So she wasn't going to budge on the matter.

Zed wanted to push her more. Hell, she wanted to shake John around until he took this seriously. Her visions had never showed one of her loved ones dying before.

So far it sucked.

"What did Chas say on his message?" she inquired, somewhat reluctantly.

If neither one of them was going to face what was happening, she might as well focus on her other friend. The only one who might back her up in this situation after he learns of it.

"Everything he had to. That he needs us here." John replied.

He turned his head to look at the pair. His gaze lingered on Jade before looking away quickly. Her heart skipped a beat.

He led them to the hospital room was in. As all three of them went in, they saw Chas standing beside his unconscious daughter.

"Came as fast as we could, mate." John assured Chas.

He lowered his bag on a table nearby while looking at Chas's daughter. It was unsettling to see a child in such a state. It reminded him of Astra.

He took a sharp breath. "So what's the story?"

The only way to fix Geraldine is to figure out what went wrong. There's only so much he can theorize without more clues.

"You're the only one I'd trust with her, John." Chas said.

Despite Zed and Jade also being there, his focus was entirely on John. Well, besides his daughter whom it hurt to look at in her unconscious state.

"Well, whatever this is, mate, we're in it with you, all right?" John reassured him.

Zed hesitated before asking. "What happened to her?"

It was difficult to imagine what would want to hurt a child. Yet she recalled their trip to Mexico with newborn babies being in danger. Perhaps it wasn't so difficult after all.

"I found her on the floor, bleeding. We rushed here, I saw six other patients with the same symptoms. They're calling it a coma, but this isn't like any coma I've ever seen."

Jade frowned at Chas's words. If he was right then it wasn't only his daughter that was in danger. It was at least six other people. Maybe even more by now

"She's my daughter. I should've-" Chas's voice cracked, "I should've been there for her."

He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. As he turned to look, he found Jade's softened eyes on him.

She knew a thing or two about the guilt that can overcome you in moments like these.

"This is not on you, Chas." She reassured him.

In the meantime, John was busy inspecting Geraldine. Desperate to find any more hints as to what could've happened. He had multiple theories already.

"Her lips are chapped."

He went to the other side of her bad while holding a brush and a small bowl. He dipped the brush into some kind of powder before gently moving it across Geraldine's mouth.

Her lips were revealed to have some kind of dark markings. A residue of whatever happened to her.

"Celestial burn marks. Left behind when a soul departs." John explained.

Chas's breath hitched. "This is just Geraldine's body?"

Jade's eyes flickered over the young girl's body. Other than her lips, she seemed normal. Not like someone who no longer had their soul. That didn't even seem possible.

"Alive and breathing, which is the good news." John said.

Jade was almost afraid to ask the bad news considering this was Chas's kid they were talking about. Her friend, however, did not hesitate.

"And the bad?" Zed asked.

With John Constantine, she was used to hearing bad news. One way or another. She still found it difficult to focus on anything other than the him that she saw in the vision.

But she was trying.

"Well, if her soul is being used for a dark purpose then she doesn't have long. A day or two, at most." John explained.

He put away his brush and bowl before closing his bag entirely. If Geraldine's soul has been taken, it won't be easy getting back. Though John supposed that was the last thing Chas wanted to hear.

"How do you separate a soul from a body?"

"You don't. It's the, uh, holy grail of black magic. Many a mortal have tried and failed."

Jade closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. It was fine, John would figure everything out. He would save Geraldine. She had no doubt about that.

Even if it was hard not to worry about the fragile, little girl in the bed in front of them.

"Promise you'll do whatever it takes to get her back, John." Chas demanded.

Jade noticed the slightest hesitation in John. It was due to Astra, or at least, she thought so. He had already failed to save one child, promising to save another couldn't be easy.

"You promise me that you'll do everything I tell you." He shot back.

Despite not saying it out loud, an agreement had been reached between the two.

"Thank you." Chas said, his voice barely above a whisper.

He gave John a sideways hug. In return, John patted him before focusing on the matter on hand. He didn't have time to get sentimental.

"I have an old friend who used to be a medium. He can contact Geraldine. Hopefully she can tell us where she is. I just need one of her personal belongings."

Chas looked at the stuffed toy in his daughter's arms before gently removing it from her grasp. The act itself was difficult, it reminded him that she was unwell.

The door opened and a disheveled blonde rushed in. She stopped at the sight of us, more specifically, at the sight of John.

"What's he doing here?"

Chas took a deep breath. "John's here for support."

Jade raised an eyebrow. How many people had John pissed off? Wherever they turned, there was someone cursing his name. She was starting to wonder whether he deserved it.

"Hello, Renee." John greeted Chas's ex wife.

Ignoring the tension in the air, Zed motioned at herself and her friend. As if though that would make it a more pleasant introduction.

"I'm Zed, this is Jade."

John was already on his way out, well aware there was no peace that could be made. Renee had decided a long time ago to hate his guts. He's learned to accept it.

Renee scowled. "Piece of advice? Whichever way he goes out that door, you go the other."

Jade inhaled sharply as she remembered Anne Marie's similar wording. That is now two women warning her to stay the hell away from John would.

Judging by Zed's frown, there might soon be a third.

"We'll be right outside." John said.

-----

After Chas had a quick chat, the four of them decided to go talk to John's friend. The medium who is supposed to contact Geraldine. They went to an army surplus store where he worked.

Their introduction was brief and expected. The medium, Fennel, hated John's guts and refused to help us. What was unexpected was the violence with which Chas took the gun from Fennel before using the back of it to punch him in the face.

Turns out that Fennel was right to be paranoid, considering they were threatening him into helping them.

They settled into the back of the store where he had his table with candles and varios assortments to help him with his gift. Zed and John were sat down next to him while Jade hung back in case things went wrong.

"You do this right, I'll be in your debt. And that's no small fee." John said.

His words had no effect on Fennel who grabbed a bottle with muddled water. He poured it over his hands in preparation. Jade frowned as this was not her expertise.

"I can get you some clean water." Zed offered.

The man didn't even flinch as he rubbed his hands together. It didn't seem to bother him that she had asked him that, but he wasn't exactly pleased either.

"It's from the river Jordan. Acts like a lubricant for communication," he then turned to John. "I give you the signal, you give me the doll."

John shrugged as he held Geraldine's stuffed animal. "It's your show, mate."

Fennel started chanting. Jade recognized some of the words, but her latin was quite rusty. It must be exhausting to have to translate old spells to understand them. Though John never complained.

After getting the signal, he handed the doll over.

"She's with us now."

The flames of the candles grew bigger and brighter, signaling the presence of a soul. John whispered to Chas, warning him not to break the connection.

"Geraldine, I'm gonna get you back. You just hold on, baby." Chas stated.

Jade held her breath as she waited for some kind of reply. When it came, relief spread through her entire body. As if Geraldine was her own blood.

"Daddy, what's happening?"

John stepped in. "It's your uncle John, love. Is there anyone with you?"

Jade couldn't help the way her heart skipped a beat at the 'uncle John' words. Without meaning to, she saw him with her nieces, Lizzie and Diana. Them running into his arms, grinning as he cracked a joke at them.

It was but the smallest flash into a future they were never going to have. The hollow feeling inside her chest made her forget where she was until she heard Geraldine's voice again.

"No, I'm alone. I'm scared."

Something tightened in Jade's chest imagining the little girl she saw in that hospital bed saying these things. Poor thing didn't even know what was happening to her.

"It's alright, sweetheart. Now I need you to look around. Tell me what you see." John instructed her.

Everyone in the room awaited impatiently for some kind of clue. This was their shot of finding her and saving her.

"I see... I see-" Geraldine was interrupted by the flame of the candles getting even bigger and the medium levitating.

"Who dares to speak to one of my stolen souls?"

Jade could feel her powers humming underneath her skin. As always, whenever she was upset, they were there to protect her. No matter what kind of damage they inflict.

"Where'd she go? What's happening?" Chas yelled.

Zed slowly got up from her seat putting some distance between herself and the now posessed Fennel. Unlike her, John didn't seem so much frightened as he did irritated.

"Someone's taken control of Fennel, and it certainly isn't Geraldine." He said.

Fennel turned his head. "Oh, is that you, John Constantine? It's been a long time."

It was never a good sign that a demon recognized him. But it did narrow down the list and John would take what he could get at this point.

"Identify yourself. Face me like a real man, not with your hand up another's ass like a bloody puppet."

His words only seemed to amuse the demon or entity or whatever was inside Fennel. There was not a single spark of fear in it, only entertainment that he thought he could go against it.

"It's more than you can do. I'm sorry, I don't have time to waste on your likes."

There were more souls to be captured, Zed assumed. It made goosebumps appear on her skin. She didn't like this one bit.

"Tell me who you are."

That's when Jade felt shivers all over her body. A cold creeping in that she couldn't fight off. Black tendrils enveloped her as the others were too distracted and she was unable to produce a sound.

It entered through her mouth, nose and eyes until all she saw was black.

"You've been warned, Constantine."

Fennec burst into flame. The sight was disturbing but what followed was worse for John Constantine. A thud was heard behind them. As they turned around, they saw Jade on the ground with blood dripping from her nose.

John rushed to her side calling out her name. His hands gently cradled her face as Zed crouched down beside him. Jade's open, yet unresponsive, eyes were the same as all the other victims'.

"Hold on, Jade. We're gonna get you back." Zed whispered.

She stroked her hair while her heart raced. After seeing her vision, and now this? It was like another blow to the chest. John inhaled sharply as he thought to himself.

I'm gonna get you back.