The Danger ABC's

Say Something

black.

Call was dimly aware of a darkness at the edges of his vision, which was now hazy and almost colorless, as if he were viewing it from a screen rather than from his own eyes. Try as he might, his arms were frozen in their positions. The sounds he heard were almost muffled. He couldn't think straight. He wanted, no, needed to get out. A dark chuckle reminded him that once again, someone else was in control. This had never happened before. Call never wanted it to happen again.

"So, Call..." Constantine said, continuing as if nothing had changed.

"Jack. It's Jack." Constantine looked puzzled for a moment, but shrugged it off.

"Well, whatever you call yourself, you have a... choice to make." Constantine said with a gleam in his eye. Jack looked at Aaron, and Call could tell Aaron sensed something was off. His foot moved away from Jack's, and Call breathed a sign of relief that at least Aaron didn't think Jack was him. Or maybe he did.

"Bring him in, boys." Constantine said malevolently. Call could feel Jack tense. The door swung open, and Call watched helplessly as the guards marched a shrunken looking man with a bag over his head into the room. Constantine's already wide grin stretched even farther across his face, and Call could tell even Jack was unsettled. Call just hoped whatever test Constantine had set up, Jack felt enough to be able to make a good decision. Constantine motioned with his hand and the bag came off.

"Dad?" Jack said, obviously shaken. Constantine gestured again, and one of the men holding Alistair grabbed Aaron and restrained him. Aaron was frantically thrashing around, attempting to escape the man's grip.

"What are you doing you psycho! This some sort of psychological torture crap you did to Call? Can't you just accept that he doesn't want to be part of your stupid gang!" Aaron screamed, sneakers scrambling for traction against the smooth, glossy floor. Constantine just laughed.

"I can assure you whatever is wrong with his mind, he did himself. As for being part of my 'stupid' gang, Call will be my successor. He's born for it. Soon, you'll see he'll be just as psycho as me. Do you really think in a few months you'll be anything more than some fuckboy only surviving until he finds something better to plow." Constantine said, almost as if bored.

"It isn't like that." Aaron said, stopping his struggle.

"Shut up, Stewart. Honestly, I don't care what Call does with you. Marry each other for all I care. That isn't why we're here. And why are we here, do you ask? Well, I have a little challenge for you, Mr. Romantic. You can take your gun and shoot your little bride-to-be, or shoot dear old daddums. None of this 'in the leg' bull. You go for the head. A little messy, perhaps, but we can always get a cleaning crew in later. You kill one of them in... twenty minutes let's say, or they both die. And we all get to know what happens when you mess with the Maddens."

Throughout all of this, Alistair hasn't said a thing. He's limp, motionless, as if hopped up on some cocktail of pills and unaware of anything happening around him. He looks at the floor. Call can feel rage bubbling up inside him. Rage, for everything his father put him through. Rage for pinning his mother's death on Call. Rage for so many years of working his ass off in a shitty apartment for a washed-up husk of a dream.

"Why me?" Jack asks the silent room, taking his gun into his hand.

"Call, I mean- Jack, we've gone over this before. You're my heir-"

"Not you, douchebag. Him." Jack points to the slumped man in front of him with the gun, who finally draws his head up to meet Call's eyes.

"How was it ever my fault? How could you leave me ALONE! DEFENSLESS! FATHERLESS! I DID EVERYTHING FOR YOU AND YOU CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT ME WITHOUT SEEING HER DIE, CAN YOU?" Jack is saying the words, but Call is saying them too.

"Choose your next words carefully, dad." Aaron looks horrified. Alistair looks grim. Constantine is smiling. The world is going to pieces in front of Call's grey, tear-clouded eyes. Finally, Alistair speaks, his voice husky and filled with pain.

"You're right. You're right about all of it. I should have been there for you, but I wasn't I was paranoid, so I drank to keep it away. On my best days I was half the father I should have been, and I'm sorry, Call. I never wanted any of this for you. Especially not him. God, I would have given anything to do everything over. They've been keeping me here for a- a month at least, and I realized how much I would give just to be a father to-"

This time, the laughter comes from Call. Dark, malevolent, and eerily reminiscent of someone else's.

"You wouldn't give her up, would you? You would rather she had been here, and I had never been born in the first place, right? WELL?" His voice settles over the room like a thick layer of dust, the stillness echoing in Call's bones. It's too quiet all of a sudden.

"Shoot me if you want to, Call. I've lost everything I cared about. This kid deserves to live, even if he's Tony's kid." Alistair says in a resigned voice. Aaron turns paler at the mention of the name.

"You've lost everything that matters, huh? Everything you've ever cared about, huh?" Click. Call's voice rings out in the silence, saying words Call never wanted to say. The gun is cocked. Call can feel Constantine's eyes on the back of his head. See the fear in his dad's eyes. Jack knows Alistair doesn't want to die. Jack doesn't really care.

"Call, wait. I need you to know that I l-

BANG.