"Castiel. It's good to see you again brother." Balthazar's smile was tight.
"Dude, really? Fake your death and disappear for who knows how long and that's the greeting you go with?" Dean's voice was full of judement.
"I thought you were dead. I grieved for you."
"Yes well Heaven had gotten a bit, well destructive for my taste."
"What are you doing here?"
"Whatever I want!" He smiled with a wave of his arms. "This morning I had a ménage et . . . what's French for twelve?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because I can!" Balthazar seemed angry for a second but the happy 'I don't care' attitude returned quickly.
"We fought together."
"Too many times to count."
"Then why . . .?"
Castiel stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Balthazar's expression change. Sam and Dean would not notice the subtle twist of his mouth, it was too small for human eyes to catch.
"What the hell is going on here?" Liz demanded. All eyes turned to her. Her face was red and her eyes screamed with emotions that Sam and Dean could not understand.
"So you didn't tell them our little secret then?"
"Of course not. I just got here no thanks to you."
"So you are acquainted with Elizabeth?" Castiel seemed to be the only one of the three to find his voice in the awkward air of the room.
"We go way back, don't we Liz?"
"Shut up Balthazar." Her face was red from embarrassment this time.
"Wait, how do you know this asshole?" Dean walked over to Liz and stood directly in front of her, his back to Balthazar and the rest of the inhabitants of the room.
"It's not important Dean."
"Oh I'd say it's pretty damn important. We've been busting our asses the last couple of months trying to find a way to gank Lucifer and you've been buddy-buddy with an angel who may know something and didn't feel the need to tell us?"
"Bal doesn't know any more than you about killing the devil Dean. I'm not an idiot. I would have said something if I knew how to save the whole god damn planet!" Dean's nose was inches from her face now, his voice elevated.
"Well maybe you didn't know, but most angels aren't exactly good guys Liz. Did you ever think, even for a minute, that you were in danger every time you talked to this guy? That you were putting the rest of us in danger by being around him?"
"That is quite enough." Dean was shocked to hear Balthazar's voice so close to him. "I'm going to have to ask you to take a few steps back Winchester."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll make you. I don't think Liz appreciates you screaming in her face when your breath smells of two day old whiskey." Dean was fooled by the smile, he knew better by now than to ignore a threat like that from an angel. He stepped back. "There see! Isn't it so much better when we all play nice and pretend to like each other?"
"Oh shut your . ."
"Dean enough!" Liz threw a hand onto Dean's chest and placed one calmly onto Balthazar's shoulders. "Maybe you should leave for now. I'll talk to everyone and call you when things have calmed down a little."
"My pleasure. I have better things to do than sit in this dusty Martha Stewart nightmare anyway." And with that, he was gone as quick as he'd come.
"Liz, I think we have a lot to talk about." Sam, who had remained silent until this point, finally decided to enter the conversation.
"I know Sam. Can you get my mom and Bobby, they need to hear this too."
"What do you mean you've been hunting with an angel?" He mother's voice was calm, but Liz and everyone else in the room could sense the storm quickly brewing in Ellen.
"I don't exactly hunt with him. He pops in and saves my ass if I need it, and sometimes he just pops in to be a pain in my ass."
"How long has this been going on?"
"Since before Lucifer got out of the cage."
"How did you meet him?" Everyone had a million questions, but no one dared to speak until Ellen was done interrogating her eldest daughter.
"That's a really long a complicated story mom. I can't really get into it right now either."
"Like hell!" Dean stood from his seat and pointed an accusing finger at Liz. "Start talking beginning to end."
"Dean, how I met him is not important." Unconsciously Liz put a hand inside of her jacket and gripped the book she kept in her inner pocket close to her.
"Okay, well what can you tell us?" Sam, ever the voice of reason.
"I can tell you he helps me. He always has. He saved my life today, and not for the first time. I can tell you that even though he doesn't know how to kill the devil, he can help. The question is, will he? He's not very fond of your attitude Dean."
"Well to bad I don't give a fuck what he's fond of."
"Dean, calm down."
"No Cas. This is crazy!"
"Look Dean, I know this is a lot to take in, hell I'm surprised no one's hit me yet, but you really do need to calm down. I couldn't tell you because Balthazar didn't want Castiel to know he was alive, he didn't want Heaven to know he was alive. And when I guy who's constantly saving your ass makes a serious request like that of you, you listen."
The room fell silent. Dean was fuming. Who knows what this Balthazar guy knew about them thanks to Liz. Cas was the only angel he trusted, and for good reason. But he knew Liz was a good hunter, had good instincts, so he did trust her. He didn't know what to think of the situation honestly.
"I need to talk to my brother alone." Dean motioned for Sam to follow him out of the room, the exited into the kitchen together.
"Well I'm gonna step outside for some air." Liz walked past her mother and Bobby, not daring to meet their eyes, and out into the crisp air of the salvage yard.
"Sammy, how can we trust him?"
"I'm not saying we trust Balthazar Dean, I'm saying we trust Liz. She's a good hunter, as good as me and you; she knows what she's doing."
"I know, but come on Sam! More freakin' angels? Really?"
"I know Dean. But right now we don't have many options. We need all the help we can get with this Lucifer thing, especially since the colt doesn't work."
"So for now we just sit and wait to see what happens?"
"No, for now we just do what we always do and see where everything goes. Maybe he can help us, maybe he can't. The only thing I know for sure is we need Liz. And if having Liz means having Balthazar too, then I think we'll have to deal."
"I still don't like it."
"I know you don't Dean."
"Balthazar." Liz called to him quietly from the back of the salvage yard.
"You know that Cas will know you called me?" She nodded.
"I know, but I also know Cas enough to know he'll leave us alone, for now anyway."
"So how did it go?"
"Better than I expected. There was a lot of yelling, mostly from Dean."
"That hairless ape grates on my nerves. I don't see why you insist on sticking so close to him."
"He's family Bal. He can be infuriating, but at the end of the day family is what matters."
"Did you tell them about the book?"
"No, it's not time for them to know that yet."
"They're going to be pissed you have more secrets after me." His grin was infectious and she found herself grinning too.
"They'll get over it." Liz closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around Balthazar's waist, resting her head against his chest. "I know you're still mad at me." He was uncharacteristically quiet then. After a moment he returned her embrace, if somewhat reluctantly. Balthazar wasn't big on 'mushy cuddly shit' as he called it.
"I just think you rely on me too much. You have far too much faith that I'll always come."
"You haven't let me down so far." Balthazar pressed his lips to her forehead softly.
"That's the part I hate the most." He pulled back from her then, all tenderness gone except the little she could still see sparkling in his eyes. "Don't let this 'hug' go to your head. You're still an insufferable bitch."
She smiled widely at him. "I know." She turned her back to him and began wandering back towards the house. "I better go before they come looking."
Balthazar stood there for a moment, wondering what exactly he was doing with this human girl. Shaking his head he banished the thoughts and with a flap of his wings he was gone.
When Liz re-entered the house Sam was just getting off the phone. "That was Martin. He has a case for us."
"Where?" Dean didn't look up from the laptop screen.
"The asylum he checked himself into." Dean looked at Sam and gave him a smug grin.
"Well Sammy looks like it's time for a visit to the looney bin!"
Okay, so the next chapter is going to be split between what you know happens (Sam and Dean's case). And what's going on back at Bobby's with Ellen, Liz, Bobby, and the gravely wounded Jo. I hope you guys like the story so far. It's really hard to write Balthazar with a soft spot and keep him in character, hopefully it gets easier the more I practice. Remember, reviews are food for my muse! Also the next chapter won't be up for about a week, I've got finals coming up soon. Sorry for the delay!