Author's Note: As I have taken a break from my fic, 'Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most' I have decided to write something for a new favorite pairing of mine; Sam/Balthazar. Now, I am not sure where this story is going, but is most likely going to have several more chapters, the next few I have already typed up. So yeah, I'll most likely keep going with this. Also, it is not beta'd as it is a side-project.

Summary: Sam thought Balthazar was dead, but what happens when the Angel reappears right before his eyes in a desolate motel in Arkansas? And what is this that Balthazar is saying about Sam being his Charge? Sam/Balthazar, rating for later chapters.

Illuminated

It was three a.m. in a no-tell motel in Arkansas when Sam woke up to the sound of beating wings. He looked around the motel, Dean's slumbering body lay silent and still on the bed across from him, his lip still bruised and massively swollen from the hit he'd took on the hunt they'd just finished up. It was easy really, just a rouge vampire who'd tried to start his own coven and was easily dealt with, a minor break from their hunt for the Leviathans, which they'd lost track of as of a week ago.

Sam pushed the covers away from the bed as he sat up, eyes scanning the room. He listened hard, but the room was pitch black and he could hardly make out Dean's slumbering frame two feet away from him, let alone anyone who had been hidden in the corners of the room.

Still, Sam was disturbed. He had heard the sound of wings, and he only knew a handful of angels, all of which were dead as far as he knew, which meant he was either hallucinating Lucifer or a new Angel was after Sam and Dean.

Or maybe an old one was back from the dead?

Sam certainly hoped not as he slid off the bed, eyes scanning the shadows as he grabbed the nearest weapon to him, a silver knife. Sure it wouldn't kill an Angel, or Lucifer, but it would slow them down.

"Now, now, Darling, is that anyway to greet old friends?"

Sam nearly dropped the knife at the sound of the familiar British-accented voice.

"Balthazar?" He asked.

The lights in the entrance of the room flicked on, their lame yellow hue illuminating the Angel who stood below them without casting much light on Dean. Sam simply stared, for that was all he could do. Balthazar was alive. It was his only thought, and it certainly was a crippling one.

"Hello, Darling."