( Guest Starring John Noble - 1 of 4 )

'I'm telling you, as they say, I come in peace.' Damien said. He was standing in a quickly drawn magic protection circle, in the middle of the lab with his arms crossed.

'I, as they say, think you are full of crap.' Sara taunted.

'I'm a changed man, Sara.'

'The only change I want to see you go through is from alive to dead. Ray, how are we doing with Constantines' spell?'

'Just need one more splash of bat spleen, sorry bat, and that should do it.' Ray replied, tipping some yellow liquid onto the spell on the lab's floor. 'Hm. Nothing's happening. Maybe I missed an ingredient.'

'Your ankh symbol, it's upside down.' Damien suggested.

'No, it's not!' Mick yelled.

'Yes, it is.'

'No! It's not!'

'Oooh, I knew it would be difficult to get you to trust me.'

'Try impossible.' Rip stated. Next to him Thea muffled a laugh with her hand.

'Which is why I brought this gesture of good faith.' Damien said, holding up a blue stone.

'The water totem.' Ray gasped.

'I borrowed it from my daughter, after she ripped it from Kuasa's chest. Sorry about that, by the way.' Sara then leant into the circle and took the totem from Damien's hand. 'You guys mind if I give you a hand with this? You seem to be struggling a little bit.' He then looked around the room, only seeing a team of people who clearly didn't care before waving his hand and rotating the symbol the correct way. A stream of blue light then erupted from the floor and boxed him in.

'Uh, now, uh, try to choke me.' Ray commanded. Damien then tried and failed to do so, making Ray laugh. 'See? You can't -- it doesn't let you.'

'Yeah.' Damien sighed. 'That water totem is worth something, with all six you guys might actually have a chance against Mallus.'

'You mean the same demon you have been creating anachronisms to release?' Ava asked.

'That was before I realised what our partnership would cost me.'

'Nora.' Ray whispered.

'Dies.' Damien finished. 'The moment the demon escapes. Now, I know this might rankle you a bit Sara, but our interests are aligned. We can save Nora and stop Mallus from bein freed. Together.'

'No.'

'Excuse me?'

'Rory, kill him.' Sara ordered. Mick raised his heat gun at Damien, hand ready on the trigger.

'No, wait wait.' Ray interrupted. 'Okay, look. I know Damien has done terrible things in his past which can't be forgiven, but I know that he loves his daughter. We can't just kill him.'

'He was already dead. Killing him would be fixing an anachronism.'

'Yeah, so would incarcerating him at the bureau.' Rip added.

'I agree with Rip.' Ava said, begrudgingly. 'We should think through this situation rationally.'

'Boss?' Mick asked.

'Stand down.'

Mick lowered the gun and next to him Ray breathed a sigh of relief.

'I'm glad to see you've come to your senses.'

'If you think this makes us straight, you're wrong.' Sara replied, striding out of the room. There was a pause and then everyone else followed behind her. Except for Thea, they stood there with their arms crossed, looking at Damien with contempt.

'He doesn't know, does he?' Damien said, breaking the silence.

'No, he doesn't.' Thea replied. 'I can't let him prioritise me over any other important decisions he may have to help make. Rip can't know.'

Word Count: 572

Written: 9th November 2022 - 13th November 2022

Published: 13th November 2022