Once more, I can't thank you enough for the reviews!

Jade Johanson: I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! Your reviews give me the motivation to update asap :D

deadone1013: I'm doing great, thanks :) I just got out of finals, which was horrible, but now I have time to update! Your thoughts on Rosie were great to hear, and I will incorporate them into the story :D I love how many reviews you've left so far; it means a lot!

Z: That dotdotdot was very intriguing :P Thanks for your input about Rosie!

Bookaholic27: I was debating whether to update tonight, and your review tipped the scale! Thank you!

Y'all convinced me. Just so you know, Rosie will NOT be dying!

Enjoy the chapter!

Rosie couldn't take the information. She reeled backwards, her bakery spinning around her. So the men weren't FEDs? But they lied to the police?

"Easy there." Sam took a hold of Rosie's arm and led her to a seat at one of the tables. "We don't want you ending up like Cas there."

Rosie laughed a breathy laugh. She tried to take in deep breaths, but it was hard to calm down with two strange liars staring at her.

At Rosie's frightened glance, Dean sat down in a chair. "We're not here to hurt you," he promised. "We're only here to save our friend."

Rosie threw a halfhearted glance at Sam as he sat down as well. "You don't need to save him. He's fine." She felt slightly offended that the brothers didn't think she could take care of Clarence.

Sam furrowed his brow, but Rosie cut him off as he opened his mouth.

"Yeah, so he's a little dirty and has lost weight," she said, guessing that those snippets of information were the reason why Sam and Dean wanted Clarence (or was it Cas?) moved out, "but I've only just taken him in; he was sleeping on the streets a week ago."

"That's not what we're worried about," Sam responded quickly, before Rosie could continue. "It's Cas' brothers who are the real threat."

"The real threat," Dean mused. "Oh, they're the real threat, alright."

Castiel came to consciousness seated on a sofa. His head was pounding, but compared to the other ailments that came with humanity, it wasn't too hard to deal with.

Look at me, Cas thought grimly, I've become used to living without grace.

The thought of humans brought Cas' mind to Sam and Dean. He had to get them out, before Malachi or Bart—or even Metatron—struck!

As Castiel stood up, words in Enochian brought him to his knees. The angel radio always incapacitated him at the worst times.

"They have found him?" a voice asked, which Cas identified as Malachi's.

"That's what my spies have heard," confirmed Bartholomew's unmistakable tone, dripping with malice. "And my spies are never wrong."

"We have to take them out." Malachi sounded unsure.

There was a pause before Bart spoke again. "Send in a reaper. I don't want to waste an angel on the Winchesters."

The rest of their conversation faded to the back of Castiel's mind as he scrambled to his feet and dashed to the room where his friends were speaking.

"Sam! Dean!" he called, wanting to share the news without revealing it to innocent Rosie. "There's a problem!"

Dean was standing ready, with a pistol in his hand, when Cas burst through the door. Sam had a hand in his pocket that was undoubtedly clutching one as well, and he was tensed.

Rosie looked terrified by the hunters' quick reflexes. She scooted her chair back until it hit the wall.

Castiel clutched his head as Enochian blasted through it and dark spots covered his vision. "Bart and Malachi…they know you're here," he said in a gravelly voice, clutching the door frame to keep from falling.

"Are they coming?" Dean asked, switching his gun out for the angel blade he carried.

Cas shook his head. "Reaper," he whispered.

Rosie cocked her head from where she sat. "What did you say? I thought I heard 'reaper' as in Grim Reaper!" Her tone seemed falsely light, as if she hoped to have misheard but didn't think she did.

"I'll take her out; keep her safe," Sam volunteered, but Rosie refused to get up from where she sat.

"We're trying to help you!" Dean called in frustration as he scanned the room for the oncoming threat.

Castiel brought out his own angel blade as well as he attempted to block out Bart and Malachi's laughter from the angel radio. "They think they've won," he growled.

Dean gripped his blade tighter. "Well, they have another thing coming."

"Who's they?" Rosie asked, her voice surprisingly calm considering the circumstances. "Are your brothers coming, Cas?"

Castiel's head whipped over as he looked intently into her eyes. "You know my name." He did not know whether to feel pleased or irritated, but he knew he was scared. Not of Rosie or his name. Of the reaper.

Castiel had never hunted as a human before, and he wondered how Dean and Sam fought through the sheer terror and anticipation that came with a fight.

Sam, seeing that moving Rosie was out of the question, drew his gun. While it wouldn't kill a reaper, it would slow it down. A few seconds was all Dean and Cas needed to finish the job.

Cas, Dean, and Sam stood in formation, spread out to give each other room to fight and to keep the reaper trapped when it came. Rosie stayed sitting in the chair, looking miserable and confused. She twirled a lock of her hair and alternated her gaze from Dean to Sam.

All four of them turned their heads when a knock at the door shattered the pressing silence.

The reaper had come.